Spirited Away: YuGiOh! Style
by Atem's Sister Atea
Summary: Tea is trapped in the Spirit World, her parents have been turned into pigs, and she is forced to work in a bath-house for an evil spirit. Can she save her parents and escape the Spirit World? With the help of a certain crimson-eyed spirit, maybe she can.
1. Moving Day

Happy Halloween everyone!! Sorry for the long wait, but after tallying up the votes, you have all voted for me to write a _**'Yu-Gi-Oh!'**_ version of the Japanese classic _**'Spirited Away'**_! Believe me, it was no easy task to write this! I had to go to _**YouTube**_ to find the movie, but I could only find the Japanese version!! Thank Ra it had English subtitles! Seriously, is it _THAT HARD _to download the English version?!! But enough ranting.

This story is dedicated to author _**Game Master Blake**_ who unfortunately will be retiring from the site as of midnight tonight. For those of you who have read his story _**'Yu-Gi-Oh!: Heart of the Duelist'**_; you understand of great he was at writing and how much we'll miss him. Good luck out in the real world Blake!!!

I'd also like to dedicate this to my Nanay (Filipino for nanny). She recently had a heart attack and is now in the hospital where she might need surgery. I'm praying that she doesn't. So please pray for my Nanay. Hopefully nothing bad happens to her. DEAR RA, PLEASE LET HER BE OKAY!!! Sorry. I just needed to get that off of my chest.I really do hope she's okay.

Now that that's taken care of, here's _**'Spirited Away (Yu-Gi-Oh! Style).**_

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own either Yu-Gi-Oh! Or Spirited Away. *grumbles* Should be obvious. I hate this.

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_**Spirited Away (Yu-Gi-Oh! Style)**_

_Chapter One: Moving Day_

Our story begins with a 13-year-old girl named Tea Gardner. She was currently seated in the back of her parents blue car driving along a highway in rural Japan. Her father had recently gotten transferred to a small town. That meant that the whole family had to move away from their home in Domino City where they had lived for many years.

Tea had been against this from the start. She didn't want to move from her hometown, away from her friends, but in the end, her parents had more say in the matter then her. So before she knew it, Tea's family had packed up the house and hit the road.

Tea was wearing a periwinkle-blue T-Shirt along with Capri-pants and green sneakers. She had chocolate-brown hair that reached her shoulders, reached a height of about 4' 5", and a pair of the purest ocean-blue eyes you had ever seen that sparkled even in the darkest night.

Right now her eyes were looking at a card among a beautiful bouquet of roses. It said:

_Good luck Tea._

_No matter where you are, we'll always be friends. _

_We'll meet again, someday._

_Your best friend, Yugi._

The roses had been a good-bye present from her best friend Yugi Muto. They had been friends for as long as they could remember. Practically since they were in diapers. They had done everything together. Now…

"Tea? Tea, we're almost there," Mr. Gardner said to his daughter.

Tea lowered her roses and stared at her sneakers. She couldn't care less if they were almost to their so-called 'new home'. She tightened her grip on her flowers, as if they were her last lifeline. In a way, they were. They were the last life line to her life in Domino City.

"This really _is_ in the middle of nowhere," Tea heard her mother say. "I'll have to go all the way to the next town to shop."

"Well, we'll just have to adjust. It'll be great once we get used to it," her father replied.

Tea took a side-glance at her parents. Mr. Gardner had short, black hair and blue eyes while her mother had elbow-length brown hair and light-green eyes.

Tea's father looked over to the other side of the road. "Look Tea. There's your new school! Looks great, doesn't it?"

While Tea got up slowly from her seat, Mrs. Gardner looked at the school as well. "It doesn't look _too_ bad," trying to encourage her daughter.

Tea looked out the window. True, it didn't look bad. In fact it looked pretty nice. But Tea was still pretty upset about moving away so she didn't really agree with her parents. After sticking out her tongue in disgust at the school, she laid back down her spot and said "It's gonna stink. I liked my old school better." She then went back to smothering her roses.

Mrs. Gardner sighed in disappointment at Tea's response. Ever since they had left Domino City, Tea had been excessively stubborn about the fact that they were moving. She was making it _very _clear that she wanted to go home.

Tea then noticed how much she was crushing her roses. Her eyes widened and she gasped in horror. She was destroying her last present from Yugi!! Tea sat up and leaned towards her mother's seat. Tea showed Mrs. Gardner her flowers.

"Mom! My flowers are dying!!" Tea shouted to her mother.

"I did tell you not to smother them like that," Mrs. Gardner calmly scolded. "Don't worry Tea. We'll put them in water when we get to our new home and they'll perk right up."

Tea just pouted and sank back into her seat. "I finally get a whole bouquet of flowers and they end up being a good-bye present," Tea lamented. "How depressing is that?"

"There was that rose your father got you for your birthday. Don't you remember?" Mrs. Gardner said, trying to cheer her daughter up. Which didn't work.

"Yeah, just one. A single rose isn't a bouquet," Tea retorted.

"Here sweetie. You dropped your card." She handed Tea back Yugi's card.

"Make sure you hold on to it. I'm opening the window. And do try to cheer up. It's fun moving to new places. Think of it as an adventure."

Tea just sat quietly as she felt the breeze blow through her hair as thy continue down the highway. It wasn't long before the car turned right up onto a hill leading to rows of houses.

The highway then gave way to a dirt road next to a gnarled oak tree with what seemed to be stone blocks at the base of its trunk. Mr. Gardner then stopped the car. He seemed to be confused.

He poked his head out of the window. "Hey wait a minute. Did I make the wrong turn? This can't be right."

The dirt road was leading into a grove of trees. Mrs. Gardner and Tea rolled their eyes. Mr. Gardner had gotten them lost…again. Mrs. Gardner looked around to see if she could any landmarks to get them back on the right track. She then pointed up the hill towards the houses.

"Look up there! I think I see our house." Tea and Mr. Gardner looked up.

"Isn't it that blue one down near the end?" asked Tea. They had been there once before to check out what their new house was like.

"You're right Tea, that's it. Nice job! I guess I just missed the turn-off back there." Mr. Gardner then looked ahead to the dirt road. "This path should get us there."

"Honey don't take another shortcut. This is how you always get us lost," Mrs. Gardner groaned. Tea agreed. She had lost count of how many times her father had done this.

"Mom's right Dad. It would be better if you just turned around and took the turn. Or better yet, just turn back and let's go back home to Domino City," said Tea.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Gardner chuckled at Tea's cute attempt to get them to go home.

"Nice try Tea. Now don't worry ladies! I'll make sure we don't get lost again. It's just a little farther," said Mr. Gardner.

Tea then saw the stones at the base of the tree. Looking more closely, she noticed that they resembled little houses covered in moss and weeds.

"Hey Mom, what are those stones for? They look like little houses," she asked her mother.

"They're shrines. Some people believe little spirits live in them."

At that moment, Mr. Gardner started up the car again and continued down the dirt road into the trees. Birds chirped around the grove. The forest seemed… old. Most of the sunlight was blocked by the branches above them. The road seemed to be smooth enough. Tea was getting a bad feeling. Some thing didn't seem right.

"Dad, are we lost again?" asked Tea.

"Don't worry sweetheart. We've got a 4-wheel drive!", Mr. Gardner replied.

All of a sudden, the road got bumpy.

"Sit down Tea. You don't want to get hurt," warned her mother. Then the road got rougher. The car started shaking. Poor Tea got knocked back into her seat. The car started to pick up speed. She was getting a little freaked out. Her father usually never went _this_ fast. The road kept getting rougher when Tea looked out her window. They were passing a small statue. It was rounded and it had what looked like a frog's face on its front.

Tea turned in her seat to get a better look at the statue. But all of a sudden, the car ran over a small stream and Tea was tossed around in the back. The car kept picking up speed. The road seemed to get steeper. The car started tearing through branches, still her father kept driving at high speeds.

"Honey slow down!!" Mrs. Gardner cried out. "We're going to fast!!"

"Dad, you're going to kill us if you don't slow down!!"

Before Mr. Gardner could reply, he saw a red building coming up in front of them with a tunnel and another frog-faced statue… coming up pretty fast!!!

"A tunnel?!"

Mr. Gardner then slammed the brakes, just in time for the car to stop in front of the statue… barely. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner poked their heads out of their windows to take a look at the building. It resembled buildings like those from Japan's feudal era, and Tea did not like the looks of it at all.

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**Author's Note:** Alright, that doesn't seem to bad for a beginning right? Just what will Tea and her family find in that building? Why is Tea getting a bad vibe from it? You'll just have to wait and see!

Remember: it takes five reviews for a chapter to be updated, and whoever leaves the best review wins the _**Most Awesome Reviewer Award!!**_ So please click that cute little review button down there and let me know how you felt about this chapter please.

Hope you enjoy your Halloween everyone!! Ja ne!!


	2. The Tunnel, the Theme Park, and the Boy

Hey ya'll!! Now it's time for the next installment in my latest story!! First off, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter:

_**dancers of the night**_

_**Sister Of The Pharaoh**_

_Bumble Bee_

_**GreenOpalus**_

_**Atem-Tea love 4ever**_

_**fantasia-49**_

_**Jaden yuki v.s. Yugi moto**_

_**ThexWhitexPhoenix**_

_**Lezley-Gardner**_

Thank you all for the great reviews!! Now normally I would announce who won the _**'Most Awesome Reviewer Award'**_ right now, but from now on I'll announce it at the _**END**_ of the chapter instead of the _**BEGINNING**_ of the chapter.

And I'm happy to announce that I _**FINALLY **_found the English version of _**'Spirited Away'**_!!!! Now I can safely write my story without watching the Japanese version!! Sweetness!! If you want to watch it, I made a new playlist for it on my _**YouTube**_ account. The link is on my profile.

I hope you all enjoy the new chapter as well as I enjoyed writing it!! But first…

_**Disclaimer:**_ *grumbles loudly* Honestly, the site _**LOVES**_ to torture us by making us write these stupid disclaimers!! Fine, I don't own _**'Yu-Gi-Oh!'**_ or _**'Spirited Away'!!**_ Oh the torture!!!!!!

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_Chapter Two: The Tunnel ; the Theme Park; and the Boy_

Tea was trying to catch her breath from the _extremely _bumpy ride. Her father had stopped the car in front of a frog-faced statue in front of an old building that looked straight out of feudal Japan.

Mr. Gardner stepped out of the car and shut the door.

"What's this old building?" Mrs. Gardner asked in curiosity.

"It's looks like an entrance," Mr. Gardner replied… as he walked right up the building.

"Honey, get back in the car!" Mrs. Gardner protested to her husband. "We're going to be late!!"

Meanwhile, Tea finally got her heartbeat to slow down, and got out of the car to try and convince her father to get back to the car. She was curious about the building too, but a feeling of dread was overruling her curiosity.

"Tea!!" her mother called exasperated. Tea ignored her mother as she placed her flowers back in the car and Yugi's card in her pocket and approached her father. "Oh for Heaven's sake," Mrs. Gardner said as she made to exit the car as well. Both her husband and Tea had lots of curiosity and a sense of adventure. Granted Tea inherited her mother's common sense…

Tea reached her father and grasped his arm while he was rubbing the side of the tunnel with his free hand. "This building's not old. It's fake," he observed. "These stones are made of plaster." Tea raised an eyebrow in a mix of skepticism and confusion. This building was _NEW?_ With red paint flaking of it, it had to be pretty old already if _THAT_ was happening.

He removed his hand and looked down the tunnel. He could _just_ make out the other side. All of a sudden, a strong wind started blowing at their feet… right into the tunnel. It seemed to be _begging _them to go ahead and enter.

The only one who seemed to notice was Tea. "The wind's pulling us in," she whispered just as Tea's mother came up next to them.

"What is it?" Mrs. Gardner asked her husband.

"C'mon, let's go in," Mr. Gardner replied with an adventurous twinkle in his eyes. "I want to see what's on the other side."

Tea turned her head sharply to er father. She _DID NOT _want to go in. Her instinct were telling her it was a _BAD IDEA _to enter the tunnel. "I'm not going. This place gives me the creeps!"

Mr. Gardner looked down at his daughter with a playful smirk playing across his lips. "Don't be such a scaredy-cat Tea," he said. He then looked at his wife. "Let's take a look."

Tea turned to her mother, hoping she could talk some sense into her father.

"The movers will get to our house before we do," Mrs. Gardner argued. Tea turned towards her father.

"Yeah Dad," Tea said. "We should go back and get to the house. We need to unpack." Tea may not like the idea of moving, but she liked the idea of going into the tunnel even _less_.

"It's alright," Mr. Gardner replied. "They've got the keys. They can start without us." Tea did not like where this was going. Her suspicions were confirmed with what her mother said next:

"Alright, just a quick look." Tea turned to turn her in shock. They were actually going in there?! No way in heck!!

"Forget it, I'm not going!!!" Tea ran back next to the statue. "C'mon you guys, let's get out of here!!" Tea begged her parents.

"C'mon honey," her father called to her. "It'll be fun." Tea highly doubted that. "I'm _**NOT**_ going!!!" She then looked at the statue next to er. It had the frog-face on both sides, and it was covered in moss. It looked pretty creepy. Birds chirped eerily around the woods. Tea was having second thoughts about staying out there. In the woods. Next to a creepy statue. In front of a dark tunnel. _**All alone.**_

She turned back to see if her parents changed their minds and gasped in shock at what she saw. Tea's parents were going into the tunnel without her!

"Tea, just wait in the car then," Mrs. Gardner said as she started to follow Mr. Gardner into the tunnel. Tea gripped the bottom of her shirt in anxiety.

"But Mom!!" Tea called back. She took one last look at the statue before making a decision. "Wait for me!!!" Mrs. Gardner turned her head back to see Tea running towards her. Tea took hold of her mother's arm and they continued down the tunnel.

Mr. Gardner looked back at his family. "Everybody watch your step," he warned, then continued down the tunnel. "Tea, don't cling like that, you'll make us trip," Mrs. Gardner told her daughter who was keeping a tight grip on her mother's arm in fright. As they continued down the tunnel, Tea felt shivers go up her spine. Something didn't feel right at all to her. There was this bad feeling that something _BAD_ was going to happen if they didn't turn back.

The Gardners reached the end of the tunnel. They had entered what looked like a train station. Rainbow-colored lights streaked the ground through stain-glassed windows; leaves and dust were on wooden benches; cracks were on the pillars; and there were structures that looked like bird-baths here and there. It looked is if it was abandoned for who-knows-how-long.

"What is this place?" Tea asked her parents. Mrs. Gardner then put her hand up to her ear as if she heard something.

"Oh! Do you hear that?" Mrs. Gardner asked. Mr. Gardner and Tea strained their ears and heard a sort of rumbling noise that sounded a lot like…

"It sounds like a train!," Tea exclaimed with a small smile. "We must be near a train station," Mrs. Gardner figured. Mr. Gardner started to walk to the exit on the other side.

"C'mon, let's go check it out," he said. Tea and her mother followed closely behind. Tea looked around the station and wondered why there would be a train in a deserted place like this. The more she thought about it the more unlikely it seemed. Something was definitely _NOT_ right here.

Tea's thoughts were interrupted by a blast of sunlight. Her family had exited the train station and were looking upon a beautiful meadow with a clear blue sky above with giant white clouds. In the meadow itself were more rocks reminisced of the statues Tea saw before they entered the tunnel; along with empty shacks and a path leading to a cluster of buildings.

"What are those weird buildings?," Tea wondered.

"I knew it!," Tea heard her father say. She and her mother looked at him and he was looking back up at the train station. "It's an abandoned theme park. See?" Tea and Mrs. Gardner looked up at the building too. "They built them _everywhere_ in the early 90's, then the economy went bad, and they all went bankrupt.," he explained. "This must be one of them." Tea had a feeling that this wasn't just an abandoned theme park.

Her parents then started walking down the path leading to the cluster of buildings.

"Where are you going?!," Tea called. "You said just a quick look!! Now let's go back!!" Her parents kept on walking.

"Hey!!"

Just as Tea said that, a strong wind blew from behind her. Her eyes widened in shock and she looked back to the station. The wind blew through the building and it sounded as if it were moaning. More shivers went up Tea's spine, as she ran towards her parents. The feeling of foreboding was growing stronger every minute they spent here. Tea didn't know why, but she _knew _that they had to go back to the car _**ASAP**_ or something _HORRIBLE _would happen.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were still following the path up a hill when Tea gripped her mother's arm again.

"Did you hear that building?," she asked her mother. "It was moaning."

"Don't worry Tea," her mother replied. "It's just the wind." Mrs. Gardner smiled and ran her free hand through her hair as a soft breeze blew by. "Ah what a beautiful place. We should've brought our lunch, then we could've had a picnic."

They came upon a small stream piled high with rocks. Mr. Gardner started jumping across them. "Look, they were planning to put river here.".

"I wonder why they stopped," Tea said.

Mr. Gardner was helping his wife get across a few rocks when he caught a scent in the air. Mrs. Gardner bumped into her husband when he asked, "Hey, you smell that?" She started sniffing too. "Something smells _delicious_."

"Yeah," she said. "And I'm starving."

"Maybe this theme park is still in business. Let's go!" They started to follow the scent. "Tea, hurry up sweetheart," Mrs. Gardner called.

"Wait a minute!!" Tea called back. She was trying to climb over the stream trying not to slip on the rocks. She followed her parents up the steps, passing a small, moss-covered statue that looked like frog with it's mouth open as she did.

Mr. Gardner followed the scent in the air like a bloodhound as they followed the main street into the park. All the buildings looked abandoned with cracks in their walls and their paint peeling. The Gardners walked up some steps and Mr. Gardner pointed even further down the street.

"Over there. I think it's this way," he said as he led his family to whatever was causing the scent. They came to a row of buildings that led in two different directions. Mr. Gardner checked where the scent was coming from. He pointed left and said "This way."

Tea caught up with her mother. Mrs. Gardner looked at all the buildings with a look of confusion on her face. "What is it Mom?" Tea asked.

"It's strange," she replied. "All these building are restaurants." She was right. Every last building in the park was a restaurant. Strange. And even stranger still…

"Where is everybody?" Tea asked. The theme park was a complete ghost town. Absolutely _NO-ONE_ was in sight. Another chill went up Tea's spine. This place just kept getting creepier and creepier. Tea's father was still following the scent. Then he saw steam coming out of one of the restaurants.

"Ah, there it is!" He ran towards the building and saw a row of seats. "Over here girls, I found it!" he called. Mr. Gardner went inside and his eyes widened at the sight he saw!!

In front of the seats were huge plates _PILED_ with food he had never seen before! The steam he saw was coming out of an old-fashioned rice cooker in the kitchen. Tea and her mother were just turning the corner toward the restaurant when Mr. Gardner poked his head out to great them.

"Hey, you gotta see this," he called to them. "There's _LOADS_ of food in here!" Mrs. Gardner ran inside the restaurant while Tea followed close.

Mrs. Gardner's eyes popped open when she saw the mountains of food before her.

"Ah, look at this! Where did all this food come from?" she asked her husband.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "Hello in there!! Does anybody work here?!" he called in to the restaurant. Tea came up from behind and saw the food, but became confused. Who made all that food, and why would they just leave it out like that? Something wasn't right.

"Come in Tea, it looks delicious!" her mother called as she sat down in one of the chairs. Tea shook her head. She didn't trust this place _AT ALL._ Mr. Gardner was still looking for any employees.

"Anybody in there?!" Still no-one. The kitchen was completely deserted. Mrs. Gardner then reassured her husband.

"Don't worry Honey. We can pay the bill when they get back."

"Good plan," he replied. (A/N: Suuuurrrre that's a good plan. *scoffs* As good as sleeping in a coffin full of poisonous snakes.) He looked to the left and spotted a certain dish. "Hey, that looks great!!"

Mrs. Gardner picked up what looked like a mini-fried chicken. "I wonder what _this_ is called." She took a bite and turned to Tea with a huge smile on her face. "Oh, it's _delicious!!_ Tea, you _HAVE_ to taste this!!" she said….with her mouth full. (A/N: Gross!)

Tea rapidly shook her head. "I don't want any! We're gonna get in trouble. Let's just get out of here!!"

Mr. Gardner just plied a _WHOLE LOT _of food onto a few plates. "Don't worry sweetheart. Your daddy's here, and he's got credit cards and cash." He went over to sit by Mrs. Gardner who was just finishing her mini-chicken and set _THREE _plates down that were _PLIED_ with food. She turned towards Tea.

"Oh Tea, you _**have**_ to try this, it's so tender." Tea shook her head again, _REFUSING_ to eat any of the food. Mr. Gardner put some sauce on his food. "Want some?" he asked his wife… with a full mouth. "Thank you," she replied also with a full mouth. (A/N: Ever hear of _**MANNERS**_?!)

Mr. Gardner bit off what looked like a fish stick and swallowed a _HUGE_ piece of who-knows-what in one gulp slurping as he did so, and reached for what looked cubed meat and stuffed it in his mouth too. Mrs. Gardner was a little more polite in her eating but she was stuffing her face as well. In Tea's opinion, they were acting like pigs. Her father was even _snorting_ like one. (A/N: This is a question for everyone who has seen the movie- Is there anybody else who was totally _**DISGUSTED**_ when they saw how the parents were eating? I know I was!)

To say that Tea didn't like the way her parents were stuffing her would've been the understatement of the century. She was _**APPALLED **_at what she was seeing. Her parents were eating food that wasn't theirs in a strange place without permission. That horrible feeling she had been having was growing stronger, and she knew that they had to turn back.

"C'mon you guys!" she begged to her parents. "You can't eat all that food without permission! Please stop!!" Mr. and Mrs. Gardner ignored her, and continued to act like total pigs. Tea sighed in defeat. She turned around and walked out into the main road.

She looked to the left, thinking of heading back across the meadow to the car. Then she looked right and noticed a huge oak tree with a red large red sign under it. Tea's curiosity was sparked and she wanted to go for a closer look. Then again, she didn't want to leave her parents all alone. Though it didn't look like they were going to stop eating anytime soon. She could still hear her father snorting. So Tea decided to see what was over there. She walked up some more steps. She noticed that the theme park (she still doubted that) was still deserted.

When Tea reached the top, she looked up at the sign wondering what it meant. Then she looked right and her ocean-blue eyes widened in surprise and her jaw dropped! There was a _HUGE_ red building on the other side of a long bridge.

"That's weird," Tea said as she walked towards the building to get a closer look. She stopped at the edge of the bridge and looked more closely at the building looming before her. There was an active smoke-stack at it side, so Tea figured that there were people there. Then Tea noticed a waterfall in the front.

"It's a bath-house," she realized. That struck Tea as odd. She had never heard of a theme park having a bath-house. Then she heard something under the bridge. Tea went over to the side and stuck her head under the railing. She saw a train speeding under the bridge.

"There's the train! There has to be people here if there's a train!" she exclaimed. Tea ran to the other side of the bridge and jumped on the lowest beam to get a better look. Then she got the feeling of someone watching her. She looked up… and her eyes nearly _**popped**_ out of their sockets!! There, just a few feet away from her was a boy… who looked almost _**EXACTLY**_ like her best friend Yugi!!

Tea looked closely at the boy's features. He had spiky, tri-colored hair in the shape of a star, who's base was black and tipped with magenta; blond lightning-shaped bangs framed his face; and he had a short stature.

Then Tea noticed the differences. This boy looked about a year older than either her or Yugi. He had a deep tan, like he was from Egypt; three of his bangs streaked his hair; his face was more angular; and his eyes…. while Yugi's eyes were amethyst-colored and wide with innocence, this boy's eyes were narrowed and matured, and were crimson-red. The same color as freshly-drawn blood. He was dressed in worker's clothes: light-blue pants that reached his knees; A dark-blue shirt under a loose white shirt with a lavender sash tied around his waist; and he wore a pair of brown sandals on his feet.

He gasped in surprise at the sight of Tea who lifted her head from the edge of the bridge to get a better look at the boy. He seemed… familiar, and it wasn't because he looked like Yugi. The shock in the boy's eyes disappeared as he narrowed his eyes in determination and walked towards her.

"You shouldn't be here," he said in a baritone voice. "Get out of here,_ NOW!!_" he cried urgently.

"What?" Tea asked as she came down from the railing confused. She was startled by the boy's reaction to her, and she was even more startled by the cold look in his crimson eyes.

"It's almost night," he said urgently. "Leave before it gets dark!" He was right. Tea hadn't noticed the setting sun. Then, the lights in the bath-house were lit and shadows of workers were appearing. The boy turned back frantic at the sight.

"They're lighting the lamps," he whispered harshly. He then turned back to Tea and gripped her wrist. "Get out of here!" He started pushing her across the bridge, urging her to run.

"You've gotta get across the river and back through the tunnel. Get your parents and go!!" He let go and turned back toward the bath-house. "I'll distract them!!" He blew what looked like ice particles into the air towards the bath-house.

Tea ran as fast as she could, briefly noticing the large sign starting to light up. Tea ran down the steps but stopped halfway. She noticed the lamps lighting up, and rubbed her eyes. She looked in the direction of the bath-house and thought of that boy, and how strange he acted.

"What's up with him?" she wondered with a raised eyebrow. Tea ran down the rest of the steps while the rest of the theme park lit up even more, and dark shadows in the vague shape of people rose up around her. Strangely though, Tea didn't seem to notice them. She was too focused on reaching her parents. The feeling of dread that had plagued her ever since she got there was spreading more than ever! She _HAD_ to get her parents out _**NOW!!**_

She reached the restaurant where her parents were and raced inside. "Mom! Dad!!" she called. The restaurant was an absolute mess with plates and food scattered everywhere, and her parents looked fatter than usual, and their skin had turned into a strange shade of pink. They were even _acting_ differently. Instead of using chopsticks and utensils like they were before, they were putting their faces right into the food like animals. Tea didn't seem to notice as she approached the two figures. She grasped her father's shirt to try and get his attention.

"C'mon, quit eating!!" she begged. "We have to get out of here! There's something wrong with this place and we have to leave before something horrible happens!!"

Little did Tea know was that something horrible _**DID **_happen… to her parents. Her father turned around to look at Tea, and she found herself face-to-face... with a pig!! Tea gasped and recoiled in pure horror. She looked over at her mother... and there was _**ANOTHER **_pig in her place!!!!

The pig dressed as her father lost interest in Tea and went back to stuffing its face, knocking over plates and bowls as soy sauce ran over the counter like blood. Tea stepped back in fear and disgust, trying to keep herself from screaming. Then Tea heard a smacking noise and looked up… and regretted it immediately.

A frog-like arm was slapping the pig dressed as her father across the face with a spatula, forcing the pig to fall on its side… right towards Tea!! Tea moved out of the way just before the pig slammed unto the floor, but it was too much for her. She gasped and screamed in horror and fear and ran from the terrifying scene with the pig on the floor squealing after her.

Tea ran out to the main road and only just noticed the shadows around her. She was in full panic mode! Pigs were where her parents were supposed to be; she was surrounded by shadows; and she had no idea were her real parents were at!

"Mom, Dad!! Where are you??!!" Tea screamed. She couldn't see her parents. All she saw were those horrible shadows, staring at her with blank white eyes. Tea hadn't been more scared in her entire life!!

"Mommy!!! Where are you??!!" No answer. Tea turned around and saw one of the shadows looming over her!! She ran away screaming. Tea ran down the main road; dodging shadows as she passed them; trying her best not to break down. She was hoping that if she crossed the river and got back through the tunnel, her parents would be waiting for her. Then everything would be back to normal, and she could wake up from this nightmare. Little did she know, her hopes would soon be dashed.

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**Author's Notes:** _Dun dun duuuunnnnnn!!! Suspense!!_ Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that, but it seemed like a good place to stop. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! And now it's time to give the _**Most Awesome Reviewer Award'!**_

*applause*

And the winner , well, _winners_ are….. drum roll please!!

*drum rolls*

_**dancers of the night**_

_**Sister Of The Pharaoh**_

_**Atem-Tea love 4ever**_

_**fantasia-49**_

_**Jaden yuki v.s. Yugi moto**_

_**ThexWhitexPhoenix**_

and _**Lezley-Gardner!!!!!**_

*applause*

Congratulations to all of you!! Your reviews really inspired me to keep writing until this chapter was finished! Thank you all!!

Now, before I take my leave to go collapse on my bed from exhaustion, I'd like to remind everyone that it take five reviews for the next chapter to be posted. So be sure to leave plenty of nice reviews, and please for the love of Ra, _**NO FLAMES!!!! **_I have worked my arse off in writing this chapter till *checks time* _**12:30 AM!!!**_ So if you're looking to flame someone, _**GO LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE!! **_*pants*

Sorry about that folks. I just need some sleep, then I'll be back to my cheery self in no time!! Till the next chapter everyone! Ja ne!!

_**Update Date: November 22, 2009**_


	3. You're Not Dreaming

Ladies and gentlemen, readers of all ages, I present to you the third chapter! *applause* I'm sorry that it took so long to update, but I bet everyone understands the pressures of preparing for the holiday that is Christmas. VERY time-consuming! And I would've uploaded this earlier today, but I was busy playing with my new Wii console! I thought that this would be an excellent present to all the readers on FanFiction!

Big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, which includes:

_**Lezley-Gardner**_

_**ThexWhitexPhoenix**_

_**Skipper1608**_

_**dancers of the night**_

_**Sister Of The Pharaoh**_

_**fantasia-49**_

_Graysky_

_Hedvig_

_**EarthGurdian**_

Thank you all for giving me the inspiration to write this new chapter! And to those who added my story to their favorites: No offense, but it would be a good idea to actually REVIEW the story and let me know how much you liked it.

Anyway, when we last left Tea, she was running scared from the so-called 'theme park' after seeing that her parents had been turned into pigs. And she thinks that by making it to the other side of the stream and back through the tunnel, her parents will be there on the other side. Who here agrees with that?

*silence*

Thought so. There's going to be some 'Atem=Tea' fluff in this chapter, but I ain't spoiling it! Hope you guys enjoy my latest chapter!

Disclaimer: Ah, the torture continues. I don't own 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' or 'Spirited Away'. A pox on whoever thought of making us do these stupid disclaimers!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

_

* * *

_

_Chapter Three: You're Not Dreaming_

Tea ran along the main road, avoiding the shadows, desperate to get back to the tunnel, hoping that her parents would be on the other side. She was still haunted by the sight of the pigs that she found in place of her parents.

_'PLEASE let this be a nightmare!,' _Tea thought with panic. _'Please let my parents be okay!'_

She finally exited the cluster of buildings and ran down the steps towards he meadow, not noticing the frog statue at the top spilling water out of its mouth. And speaking of water… Tea reached the bottom of the steps and ran right into an ice-cold river!

"Water?" she cried out in confusion. She ran back to the bottom of the steps and looked out across the water. Tea's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at what she saw!

The train station that her family had passed through earlier was lit up brightly, and there were buildings around it that weren't there before! And a brightly lit ferry-boat was making its way across the water towards the very shore that Tea was on right now!

Tea didn't know what to do. The only way back to the tunnel was blocked, and worse still, she had _**NO IDEA**_ of what was going on, and whether or not her parents really were turned into pigs.

"What?" she asked quietly. "I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming!" she squealed while closing her eyes and pounding her fists on the side of her head. Tea opened her eyes, hoping to Heaven and Earth that she had woken up. Nope. She didn't.

"Come on, wake up, _**WAKE UP!**_" she screamed while shaking her head and sinking to the ground. Tea buried her face in her knees, trying her best not to cry and trying to wake up from this nightmare.

"Wake up," she muttered. "This can't be happening to me. I'm asleep. Please wake up. Please."

She just wanted to go home and be with her parents and her friends. Tea didn't notice the ferry-boat getting closer to the shore

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream," Tea tried to reassure herself while rocking back and forth. "Go away, go away. Disappear." Right when Tea said 'disappear', her shoe started to slowly fade away.

It wasn't long before Tea noticed a slight tingle spreading through her body.

'What's this tingling feeling?' Tea looked at her hands and saw the ground straight through them. She gasped in shock as she brought them up to her face and she could she the oncoming ferry-boat right through them! Her hands were completely transparent!

Tea's eyes widened in shock as she stood up. "I'm see-through!" she exclaimed in horror. She rubbed her arms in fear.

"It's just… a bad dream! I'm asleep!" she whimpered. A slight tremor to Tea's left broke her out of her trance. Tea saw that the ferry-boat had landed not twenty feet away from her. The doors suddenly burst open. A few seconds later, paper masks came floating out of the doorways. Masks that weren't attached to bodies! When the masks stepped out of boat, crimson cloaks just appeared around them giving them bodies along with strange purple headdresses on the top! Then even stranger beings appeared. Some were huge fur-balls with horns on their heads, while looked like giant chicks with leaves for hats! They didn't even notice Tea as they entered the cluster of buildings.

It was too much for Tea to bear. She backed away slowly, then saw movement from the corner of her eye. She looked… and nearly had a heart attack!

There were more of the shadows that she saw earlier coming right out of the lake! That was the last straw. Tea screamed and ran up the hill as fast as she could, tripping a couple times. Tears were threatening to come out, but Tea was too focused on hiding to cry.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

Meanwhile, the boy Tea had met on the bridge was searching for her. He ran down a flight of stairs out of the park and into the outskirts. He stopped and looked around. Then he spotted her. Curled up in the shadow of one of the buildings. The boy ran across the grass to where Tea was. The coldness in his crimson eyes disappeared when he saw what state Tea was in.

She was curled up into a ball, her head on her knees; her shoulders shaking uncontrollably; and her body was rapidly disappearing. She also kept muttering to herself that she was dreaming and begging to wake up. Simply put: Tea was a total wreck. She hadn't even noticed him standing above her.

The boy quietly knelt down next to her and put his hands on her shaking shoulders. Tea jerked her head up and gasped, thinking that something had got her. She turned her head, and her sapphire orbs met with his narrowed crimson eyes as the boy pulled Tea into his chest in a warm embrace, not moving when Tea started struggling against him.

"No! Let go of me!" Tea shouted. Tears that she had been holding back were starting to leak out of her eyes as she struggled against his iron grip to no avail. After a few seconds of struggling, she heard him speak.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered. "I'm here to help you."

Tea then gave into his embrace, her body shaking, her eyes pouring out tears, and her sobbing uncontrollably.

"Shhh, it's okay. Just let it out."

For the next five minutes, the two children sat there; the boy comforting Tea as best as he could. He held her close to him, rubbing her back soothingly. Tea felt warm in his embrace, and started to calm down. For some reason, Tea felt as if him embracing her was… familiar and normal, but brushed it off. For the first time she entered this realm, she felt as if nothing could hurt her. Tea felt completely safe.

After five minutes, the boy pulled back slightly and looked into Tea's sapphire eyes (now puffy and tinted red from crying).

"Everything's going to be alright," he said. The boy then reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small, red berry. "Here, open your mouth and eat this."

Tea gasped and tried again to get out of his embrace. "No," she whimpered. "No, no!" Eating all that food turned her parents into pigs, and she didn't like the idea of being a little piglet. Tea struggled against the boy's grip, but he easily pulled her back.

"You have to eat some food in this world, or else you'll disappear," he said. But Tea being the stubborn person she was, still refused.

_"NO!" _she squealed as she tried to push the other away. Key word: tried. Tea looked, and saw her arm passing right through the boy's head!

"Don't worry," the boy said as he tried to give her the berry. "It won't hurt you."

Tea opened her mouth to ask-

"And no, it won't turn you into a pig." Tea caved and let him place to berry in her mouth. "Chew it, and swallow," he told her. Tea did so.

"There you go, you're all better," he said with a reassuring smile. "See for yourself."

The boy held up his hand for her to touch. Tea hesitated but brought her hand up and felt a solid hand under her fingers. She released the breath she didn't know she was holding. At least she wasn't transparent anymore.

"I'm okay," Tea whispered. The boy gripped her hand in his own. "You see? Everything's going to okay." Tea looked up and was lost almost instantly in his crimson-eyes. The coldness that she had seen at the bridge was gone and replaced by a warm compassionate look mixed with concern and worry that made Tea's heart melt. Tea felt all her worries vanish as she leaned into his warm embrace, feeling a sense of true security.

"Good," he replied. Then, the boy released his grip on her arm as determination appeared in his eyes. "Now come with me," he said and started to get up, but Tea gripped his tan hand in both of hers as fear and panic once again attacked her mind.

"Where are my mom and dad?" she asked. "They… didn't really turn into pigs, did they?" The boy's gaze softened as he answered.

"You can't see them now, but you will when time permits it," he replied. It wasn't a clear answer, but it was good enough for Tea. She started to get up when the boy turned sharply behind him, as if sensing something in the sky.

"What is it?" Tea asked, but received no answer as the boy suddenly crouched down completely covering her with his body.

"Don't move, and stay quiet," he said. Tea blushed slightly at the position they were in, but listened anyway. She looked up at the sky to see what was going on and saw what looked like a blue fairy the size of an eagle with pale-blue skin, white wings, navy-blue eyes and long dark hair; wearing a dark blue and lavender dress flying through the night sky.

The boy glared up at the fairy, tightening his grip on Tea as it flew over them. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice the two youngsters on the ground because she turned around and flew out of sight.

"Spiria," Tea heard the boy say. "She's looking for you." He turned toward Tea. "You've got to get out of here and quickly." He got up. Tea, deeming him trustworthy, decided to follow him, but her legs wouldn't move an inch!

"Ah! My legs, I can't stand up!" Tea whimpered. The boy immediately knelt down next to her as she tried again to get up, but groaned in pain. "Help, what do I do?"

"Calm down, and take a deep breath," he replied. Tea did so, then the boy placed his free hand over Tea's leg. "I invoke the power of the shadows," he chanted as a purplish-black glow appeared around his hand. "Unbind her."

Feeling returned to Tea's legs as his spell took effect. "Get up," he told her. Tea quickly stood up and was pulled by the boy in the direction from whence he came. They were at a speed that Tea hadn't thought humanely possible. They went in between a few buildings when they came upon a closed door. The boy waved his hand and the door flew open and closed as soon as they passed through. Tea and the boy ran down a few steps into what looked like a storeroom with gigantic fish and humongous steaks. They ran through a freezer when the boy magically opened another door and they passed through right into a pig-pen.

Tea couldn't help but glance back at the squealing pigs and wondered if her parents were among them as she and the boy ran out of the pig-pen through a garden. They stopped at the gate and Tea saw that they were right next to the bridge that led to the bath-house where they met. The bath-house was now brightly lit and two figures looked half-toad, half-human were holding lamps and greeting the guests which the majority were the strange beings that Tea had seen departing the boat. There were also women that looked like ordinary humans at the entrance greeting the guests as well. Tea snapped back into reality when she heard the boy speaking.

"You have to hold your breath while we cross the bridge," he said as he opened the gate. "Even the tiniest breath will break the spell I cast, and then everyone will be able to see you. Trust me, spirits don't take kindly to humans."

_'Spirits?' _Tea asked herself as she passed through the gate. _'If he's telling the truth, then why is he helping me? He's a spirit too… isn't he?' _The boy began to lead her towards the bridge. Tea kept a tight grip on his arm, at the same time worrying if she could hold her breath long enough. The bridge was pretty long.

"I'm not so sure about this," Tea admitted. "Don't worry, just stay calm," the boy reassured her. They passed through another gate and passed by the two toad-people who were bowing while greeting the guests.

"I'm back from my mission," the boy told them. "Ah, welcome back Master Yami," one of the toads replied politely. They didn't even noticed Tea maintaining her death-grip on the boy's- now known as Yami's- arm.

"Take a deep breath," Yami told Tea. She did so. "Now hold it." Tea covered her mouth and nose with her hand and held her breath just as they stepped onto the bridge. Yami led Tea as quickly as he could without appearing suspicious as they passed the crossing spirits. So far none of them had noticed Tea.

Then Tea noticed a strange spirit standing by the railing near the center of the bridge. The spirit was tall, dark purple, and transparent except for a jade mask that served as its face. What she noticed next almost caused her to release her breath in shock. The spirit was staring straight at her with a smile on its face. But the spirit wasn't saying anything about her presence, so as un-nerving as it was, Tea brushed it off.

Besides, she had bigger problems to worry about… like the fact that her lungs were starting to burn from lack of oxygen. Tea moaned, trying to tell Yami that she couldn't hold out much longer. Thankfully Yami did notice. "Hang on, we're almost there," he assured her. "Just a little longer." Just to be safe, he picked up the pace a little bit while Tea gazed at the end of the bridge longingly. They were only three feet away.

Then, a larger-than-normal frog wearing a blue kimono ran up in front of them and started hopping up and down in excitement causing them to stop. "Master Yami, welcome back!" the frog said. "Where've you been?" Tea let out a small, involuntary gasp in surprise. She covered her mouth again, but the damage was already done.

The frog landed and starred at Tea in shock. "Huh, a human?" Tea's blood ran cold as the frog jumped up and tried to get a closer look, but Yami quickly conjured a black sphere around the frog, trapping him inside.

"Run for it!" he ordered Tea who didn't need to be told twice! They ran at top speed right past the greeting women, causing their skirts to fly upward. The women squealed in embarrassment as they attempted to get their skirts down, while Yami led Tea through a small doorway and shut the door behind them. The frog had been released from the black sphere and hovered in mid-air for a few seconds before falling on his rump to the ground, wondering what had happened.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

Yami took Tea and didn't stop running until they reached the side of the bath-house behind some bushes, safely out of sight. They see the workers running all over the place and hear them screaming.

"There's a human in the bath-house!"

"Where's Master Yami? Someone get Master Yami!"

"Find that human before it stinks up the place!" Simply put, the entire bath-house was in total chaos.

"Ra-dammit," Yami muttered. "They know you're here." Tea cringed at his cold tone.

"I'm sorry," Tea said. "I took a breath." Yami turned towards Tea, put his arm around her shoulder, and gave her a small smile while he shook his head.

"There's no need to apologize Tea," he reassured her. "You did very well." Tea calmed down from what Yami had said. "Now what?" she asked him. Yami's smile disappeared and was replaced with a determined look.

"Listen, you'll be found if you stay here for too long. Then you'll never get to rescue your parents. I'll go distract them while you escape." Tea grasped Yami's shirt in protest.

"No, don't leave me here!" she begged him. "I don't what to be alone!" Tea buried her head in his chest (not feeling awkward at all for some reason), on the verge of more tears. Yami placed his arms around her, trying to calm her down.

"You don't have any choice if you want to save your parents," he told her. Tea froze at those words. "This is what you need to do." He pulled back slightly.

"They did turned turn into pigs," she said. "I wasn't dreaming." Yami nodded in confirmation and placed his right hand on her forehead. "Don't worry," he said as a purple glow appeared under his hand. Yami locked his sharp-crimson eyes with Tea's ocean-blue orbs as he placed a vision in her mind. All of a sudden, Tea could hear Yami's voice in her head while images passed in her eyes.

_**'Listen closely Tea, when things quiet down go out through the back gate.' **_Tea saw an image of the back gate leading to a long, wooden staircase. _**'Go all the way down the stairs until you reach the boiler room, where they stoke the fires.'**_ The image continued down until it reached a green door with steam raising around it. The door opened into a hallway filled with pipes and steam vents leading into a room that was brightly lit. _**'There, you'll find Shimon, the Boiler Man.'**_

The images faded away when Yami removed his hand from Tea's forehead. "Shimon?" she repeated. Yami nodded in confirmation.

"Tell him you want to work here. Even if he refuses, you must insist." he told her. "If you don't get a job, Ishizu will turn you into an animal."

"Who's Ishizu?" Tea asked.

"You'll see," Yami replied. "She's the sorceress who owns the bath-house." Yami's eyes narrowed slightly at mention of the sorceress. "Shimon will try to turn you away or trick you into leaving, but just keep asking for work. It'll be hard work, but you'll be able to stay here. Then, even Ishizu can't harm you. Do you understand?"

Tea nodded in understanding.

"Master Yami! Where are you?" The workers were yelling even louder for Yami. He looked back towards the bath-house.

"I have to go," he told Tea. He turned back toward her. "And don't forget Tea: I'm you friend." He started to get up but Tea wouldn't let go of his hand. "Wait, how did you know my name's Tea?" Yami gave her a small smile that made her melt inside and caused her heart to race.

"I've known you since you were little," he admitted. Tea's eyes widened slightly at his answer, but she didn't get the chance to ask him more. "I have go. Whatever you do, stay hidden and keep quiet. Good luck Tea." Yami let go of her hand, and walked towards the bath-house.

"Master Yami!" one of the workers called out. "Calm down, I'm coming," Yami replied, his cold look back on his face. Tea peeked out from behind the bushes. One of the workers opened the sliding door to let Yami inside. Yami stepped inside while he took of his sandals. "Master Yami, Ishizu wants to see you," the worker told him while he took Yami's sandals. "I know. It's about my mission right?" he replied in the bored tone. While he walked into the bath-house, he glanced at Tea and gave her a reassuring smile before the workers closed the door.

Tea's heart pounded against her chest and her face flushed when she saw Yami smile at her. Snapping back to reality, she went back behind the bushes to wait when things quieted down. It gave her time to think about what Yami had said to her.

_'He's known me since I was little?' _she asked herself. _'That can't be. I've only met him today. Although… he does seem familiar, and not just because he looks almost exactly like Yugi. Who is he?' _A few minutes passed, but the bath-house quieted down to a degree. Tea then crawled toward the back door, hoping that Yami's instructions were right. She had to save her parents, and right now, he was the only person she could trust.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope that you have all enjoyed your Christmas and that you've enjoyed the latest chapter! Now to give out the Most Awesome Reviewer Award! All of you left great reviews, it was hard to chose which ones were the best. But after consideration the winners are…

*drum roll*

_**Lezley-Gardner**_

_**dancers of the night**_

_**Sister Of The Pharaoh**_

_**fantasia-49**_

_**EarthGurdian**_

*applause*

Congrats to all of you! Especially _**dancers of the night **_who left me one of the best reviews I've ever gotten and _**EarthGurdian**_ who left me some fantastic advice! Thank you both!

Now that that's done, I'm going to go get started on my new books and break in my new copy of _**'Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'! **_Hope you all enjoy the rest of your Christmas and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up on New Year's Day! It only takes five reviews to earn a new chapter!

Happy holidays, and God bless you all! Ja ne!

_**Update Date: December 25, 2009**_


	4. Getting a Job

_**Happy New Year**_ everyone! It's past midnight so good-bye 2009, and say hello 2010! And as promised, here's the newest chapter of '_**Spirited Away: Yu-Gi-Oh! Style!**_ Virtual chocolates to everyone who reviewed last chapter including:

_**Lezley-Gardner**_

_**Skipper1608**_

_Graysky_

_**Limplict**_

_**dancers of the night**_

I was hoping for more reviews, but I guess everyone is too busy enjoying the presents they got for Christmas to actually review. But I'm happy to announce that this story has had a total of almost _**500 hits! **_*sniffs* People actually like my story! I'm so happy!

Anyway, now that my ranting is done, hope you all enjoy the chapter!

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own _**'Yu-Gi-Oh!' **_or _**'Spirited Away'**_. If I did, the Pharaoh would've stayed in the living world and gotten together with Tea; and Haku would've found a way to be with Chihiro. But hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

_

* * *

Chapter Four: Getting a Job_

Following the images Yami had shown her, Tea started to head toward the boiler room to get a job. She went through the back door, and just like in the images, there was a long, wooden staircase leading down the side of the building.

_'Oh boy,' _Tea thought in anguish._ 'These stairs don't look too sturdy!' _It was true. The wood seemed to be rotting, and what was worse… the stairs were very steep and there wasn't any railing! Tea swallowed and crouched down. _'Okay,' _she thought. _'Just one step at a time.'_

Tea slowly placed her foot on the top step, then the other, biting her lip in nervousness as it creaked loudly under her weight. Fortunately it didn't break. She then reached toward the next step, but slipped and slid down a couple steps. Luckily she caught herself before she fell down more steps.

Tea slowly sat down on the step, catching her breath as she did. Tea breathed a sigh of relief. Looking down, she saw that she had a _long_ way to go before she reached the bottom.

_'Oh brother,' _Tea thought in anguish. _'Four down, and about a hundred more to go.' _Tea slowly placed her foot directly on the next step, testing it's strength as she did so. So far the stairs seemed sturdy enough for her weight so Tea was confident that she would be able to actually walk down the steps.

_'Might as well get it over with.' _Tea reached for the next step, but it creaked loudly… before splintering completely!

_**"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" **_Tea screamed as she slid down the stairs, barely catching herself. She managed to get on her feet, but she continued running downward. Half of her mind wanted to keep running because then she would get to the bottom faster; but the more rational half of her brain was screaming at her to stop. But stopping seemed impossible as Tea sped down the steps, barely making a few turns. Tea's eyes widened in horror and she screamed even louder when she saw a stone wall coming pretty fast!

_**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" **_Before Tea knew it… _**WHAM! **_She ran face-first right into the wall! (**A/N: **That's gotta hurt!) A few moments past while Tea caught her breath and her heart stopped pounding.

"Note to self," she moaned. "Walls don't move out of the way when you run toward them, not even in this wacko world." Tea removed herself from the wall, still catching her breath after that scary experience. All of a sudden, she heard something creaking above her. She looked up and saw one of the frog-people opening a window.

Tea froze and stayed quiet, hoping that she wouldn't be seen. The frog-man then took out a cigar and breathed into it.

_'Why would frogs be smoking?' _Tea asked herself. _'On second thought, maybe I don't want to know.' _Since the smoke was blocking the frog-man's view, Tea took the opportunity to sneak quietly around the corner. Once she was out of sight, Tea turned, and groaned at the sight of even more stairs! But upon closer inspection, Tea saw that these stairs were wade out of stone and that there was even a railing she could hold onto on the wall. Tea grabbed onto the railing and quickly but carefully made her way downward. Thankfully, the stone steps were more stable than the wooden ones, and didn't break.

Soon Tea reached the bottom and saw the green door from her vision. It looked normal, but after the episode with the stairs, Tea decided she couldn't be _too _careful. For all she knew it could slam open by itself right on her face as a joke. She reached for the doorknob, and opened the door slowly. It creaked slightly but didn't seem to be dangerous. She opened the door all the way and passed the threshold closing the door behind her.

Tea saw that she was in the same hallway in the images Yami showed her. Pipes ran along the walls with steam occasionally hissing out, and there was a room up ahead. She headed toward the boiler room. It was really hot in there, and it made Tea glad she was wearing short-sleeves. Tea reached the doorway leading into the boiler room, and looked around the corner.

Drawers lined the walls and there was a small doorway leading out on the other side of the room. She saw a huge boiler down at the end of a crevice in the middle of the floor. Holes lined the bottom of the crevice and little, black, spider-like puffballs were going in and out of them carrying what looked like lumps of coal over to the furnace. The puffballs were dropping the lumps of coal into an opening in the furnace before scuttling away.

Tea followed the little puffballs with her eyes until she noticed a station placed in front of the furnace. At the station, was an elderly man who seemed to be grinding strange materials and figured that this was Shimon, the Boiler Man. Tea almost gasped when she saw the man's features. He was short and stocky, and had six arms with human hands! But what shocked Tea most of all was the fact that he looked _**exactly**_ like Yugi's grandfather!

Shimon had spiky, gray hair that was covered by a black bandanna, and had a beard and mustache the same color. And his eyes were a dull violet color, reminiscent of Yugi's own amethyst eyes. The resemblance between the Boiler Man and Solomon Muto was uncanny… except for the tan and the resemblance to a spider.

Tea slowly backed up around the corner in shock, trying to calm her nerves. Then, steam hissed out of a nearby pipe shocking Tea out of her trance. She looked back into the boiler room. Shimon was still grinding materials at his station. Then he took a gavel in one of his hands and banged it four times. The black puffballs then started retreating to their holes. A couple were over by the furnace dropping two more lumps of coal in, but one of them managed to get slightly burned and scuttled to the holes smoking. In no time, the crevice was totally deserted.

Tea took the opportunity to enter the boiler room. She was still a little freaked out at the resemblance between the Boiler Man and Yugi's grandfather; but she had to get a job to save her parents, and she needed Shimon's help to do it.

"Umm, hello?" Tea said to Shimon. "Excuse me." Shimon didn't hear her as he took and teapot nearby and drank from it. Then he went back to his work. "Hello?" she said again. Still, the Boiler Man didn't hear her. She crossed the room right next to the station. "Uh, hello?" she said. "Are you Shimon?" Shimon finally noticed her and turned his head in her direction. He looked closer at Tea, who was a little freaked out by the intense look she was getting. "What's a human girl like you doing down here?" he asked, not answering Tea's question.

"Well, Yami told me to me to come here and ask for work," she quickly said. "Are you Shimon? And if you are, could you give me a job please?" Before Shimon could reply, a _ding_ was heard and four red rectangles attached to purple ribbons feel from an opening in the ceiling. Shimon turned around and glared at the tokens as if that would make them disappear.

"Oh fiddlesticks!" he groaned and gripped the tags in one hand. "_Four_ bath tokens at once? I'm getting too old for this!" he complained. Shimon then took his gavel and banged it on a wheel on the side of his station. "Come on! Get to work you little puffballs!" Then he turned back to Tea. "Yeah, I'm Shimon, slave to the boiler that heats the baths." He turned to look toward the holes in the crevice. "Move it you lazy soot-balls!" He went back to grinding the strange materials.

_'Soot-balls?' _Tea asked herself but dismissed it. "Please!" she begged. "I've got to get a job here!" Shimon turned back to her.

"Oh, I don't need any help," he told her. "This whole place is full of soot. I can just cast a spell and then I'll have all the workers I need." he finished with a smug smile while looking towards the holes again and saw the black puffballs carrying the lumps of coal coming out. Tea quickly moved to the corner behind Shimon's station so she wouldn't get in their way. Then she looked down at the little puff-balls.

_'These are soot-balls, as workers?' _Tea thought raising an eyebrow in skepticism. She quickly came to a conclusion. _'This place just keeps getting weirder by the minute.' _Tea didn't have much time to think about that, because she then felt one of the soot-balls knocking against her foot, squeaking in frustration. Apparently she was still in their way even in the corner of the crevice.

"Oh, sorry," Tea apologized as she lifted her foot up. But even more soot-balls got caught on her other foot. The lumps of coal they were carrying were really heavy so their movement was restricted.

"Wait, just a second." she said as she head over to the other side of the room and stepped out of the crevice. Shimon, still grinding the materials, then reached over with one of his arms towards where Tea was standing.

"Out of the way please," he said, waving his hand for emphasis. Tea quickly moved to her right out of the crevice while Shimon opened the drawer that was behind her and took out what looked like plants stalks not unlike what he was grinding up. He closed the drawer, then reached upward almost to the ceiling and took some more herbs from another drawer and brought it back to his station. How he did that without even looking up from his work, Tea will never know.

Tea sat on the edge of the crevice, sighing in frustration. There was no way she was going to give up. She'd just wait until Shimon wasn't as busy, then she'd ask about getting a job again. In the meantime, Tea just watched the soot-balls go by. Then she noticed one of the soot-balls carrying a particularly large lump of coal and was struggling to scuttle to the boiler. Tea gasped when the soot-ball collapsed under the coal's weight.

Always one willing to help others in need, Tea stood up and grasped the coal with both hands, but it was heavier than she thought it would be. Some of the other soot-balls had stopped what they were doing to watch Tea help out.

_'How in the world can those soot-balls even lift these things let alone carry it?' _Tea thought as she finally lifted the coal from the ground. The poor little soot-ball had gotten squashed underneath and popped back into shape after a few seconds had passed, then scuttled back into one of the holes.

"What should I do with this?" Tea asked the soot-balls. Unfortunately, they couldn't talk so they just continued with their work. "Should I just leave it here?" Shimon turned toward her. "Finish what you started human," he said. Noticing Tea's confused look, he sighed. "Take that piece of coal and put it in the furnace."

"Ohhh," Tea said. She bit her lower lip as she started towards the towering furnace. The heat was growing intense as Tea came closer. The soot-balls ahead of her clear out of her way. She finally reached the opening of the furnace where the heat was at its hottest. The hole kept opening and closing like a giant maw, with flames coming out a few inches each time it opened. Tea came closer to the opening, managing to avoid the flames as she quickly tossed the lump of coal in. She then ran behind Shimon's station to catch her breath, happy to be away from the fire.

Tea glanced at the soot-balls and saw that they were staring at her. Then one of the soot-balls let go of the lump of coal it was carrying and let it drop right on him! Tea stared in confusion as the soot-ball started squirming under the coal and Shimon stopped what he was doing to see what was going on. Then the other soot-balls dropped their pieces of coal on top of themselves too! Shimon banged his gavel on his station and glared at the squirming soot-balls.

"Hey you pesky runts!" Shimon scolded waving one of his arms. "You want to turn back into useless soot?" Then he pointed his gavel towards Tea. "And you, back off! You can't just take someone else's job. If these critters don't work, then the spell wears off, and they turn back into soot. There's no work for you down here, got it? You'll have to try somewhere else!" The soot-balls obviously didn't like what Shimon had said because they quickly lifted back up their lumps of coal and started squeaking in protest. Poor Tea looked at them in confusion while they completely crowded around her feet, piling up the pieces of coal around her. Shimon glared in annoyance at his workers.

"You soot-balls got any problems with that? Now get back to work, and leave the poor girl alone!" Still the soot-balls kept crowding around Tea. Slapping one of hands on his forehead, Shimon muttered, "I'm getting too old for this."

Then the doorway at the side of the boiler room slid open and Tea heard a woman's voice speak out.

"Chow time!" the woman said. Tea thought that the woman's voice seemed… familiar. "What's going on Shimon? You guys fighting again? It couldn't hurt to be a little nicer to those little critters you know."

"Oh for Ra's sake Mai, it's just soot," Shimon replied. _'Mai?' _Tea thought in shock. _'It can't be… that would be just too weird!' _Then she heard Mai speak up again.

"Where's your other bowl from yesterday?" Mai asked Shimon as she held up a bowl of food for him. Shimon took the food and handed Mai an empty bowl in exchange. "I keep telling you to leave it out Shimon." Mai complained as she headed over to the soot-balls' crevice. Shimon then shouted out "Mealtime! Take a break!"

The soot-balls popped out from under the pile of coal as they scurried over to where Mai was waiting to feed them. Tea looked up… and nearly had a heart attack. The woman that was feeding the soot-balls what looked like star-shaped candy out of a basket (Tea wondered why soot would need food for a moment but dismissed it)… looked _**EXACTLY**_ like a friend of hers from Domino City! Heck, they even had the same name!

Mai looked about eighteen years old with long, blond hair going down to her hips and vibrant violet eyes. The only difference between this Mai and Mai Valentine from Domino was the way they dressed. This Mai was wearing a hot pink shirt with sleeves that were tied at her elbows over a canary-yellow shirt along with hot pink shorts that ended at her knees, and a blue apron tied around her waist.

_'It's official,' _Tea thought with a sweat-drop. _'This world is out to get me.'_

Noticing another presence in the room, Mai glanced up to where Tea was and gasped in shock. Tea did likewise as Mai stood up abruptly and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"A human! You're in huge trouble, you're the one that everyone's looking for!" she shouted. Shimon simply started on his food and didn't really react to Mai's outburst.

"She's my granddaughter," he said calmly. Mai turned to him so fast you could practically hear her neck creak. "Granddaughter?" she echoed. "You're joking right?"

"Nope," Shimon replied. "She said she wants to work here, but I've got all the help I need. Will you take her to see Ishizu? She's a _**tough**_ little girl, I think she can handle it." Mai didn't seem all to happy to do Shimon a favor.

"No way!" she replied as she threw more food for the soot-balls. "No way I'm gonna risk my life, not even if Anubis himself asked my to!" Then Shimon held up what looked like a brunt lizard to Mai's face and her eyes widened in surprise and… longing?

"What if I give you this roasted newt?" Shimon said as he twirled said newt in his fingers.

_'Roasted newt?' _Tea thought with slight disgust. _'GROSS!' _Mai apparently didn't think so as Shimon started to taunt her with it, and it seemed to be working.

"Mmm-mmm, it's a good one." He turned to Tea. "If you want to get a job," he started. "Then you'll have to make a deal with Ishizu. She's the head honcho here." Mai then caved in and snagged the newt from Shimon's hand.

"Gimme that!" she said as she dumped the rest of the soot-balls food out of the basket. "Come on little girl, you better follow me." Mai told Tea with annoyance in her voice. Tea stepped over the coal pile and quickly made her way to where Mai was putting Shimon's old bowl in her basket. Mai stood up and looked at Tea with a raised eyebrow.

"Can't you even manage a _'yes ma'am' _or a _'thank you'_?" she asked dryly. "Yes ma'am," Tea squeaked out. _'I liked Mai better in Domino,' _Tea thought dryly. _'She may of had an attitude but at least she was nice… most of the time.'_

"What a dope," Mai muttered under her breath. "Hurry up now." she told Tea. "Yes ma'am." Tea reached down and took her shoes, then made to follow but Mai stopped her. "You don't need your shoes or your socks," she said exasperated. "Just leave them."

"Yes ma'am" The soot balls gathered around Tea as she laid her shoes with her socks in them on the floor. She quickly followed Mai but before she exited, Mai stopped her again. "Thank the Boiler Man you nimrod. You know he's sticking out his neck for you." Tea quickly turned towards Shimon and accidentally knocked her head on top of the doorway. After gripped her head in pain, Tea bowed her head towards Shimon.

"Thank you Mr. Boiler Man," she said politely. Shimon gave her a big smile and a big thumbs-up. "Anytime! Good luck with Ishizu!"

Tea lifted her head and exited the Boiler Room, closing the door behind her.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

"We have to go all the way to the top floor," Mai said as she led Tea through a storage room. "That's where Ishizu lives." Mai entered a room with gears turning around and checked if the coast was clear. It was, so she gestured Tea to follow her. Tea came up behind her and looked around the gear-room. Her eyes widened in amazement as she looked up and saw that the gears were powering an elevator system up a long shaft. She craned her neck upward but she couldn't see the top.

_'Good thing I'm not afraid of heights.'_

"Oy! Quit gawking and get over here!" Tea was snapped out of her daze when she heard Mai calling her. She looked down to see Mai in a nearby elevator, tapping her foot in impatience. Tea ran toward the elevator but tripped on the threshold as Mai pulled a lever to start the elevator. Mai looked back and saw that Tea was still hunched over the wall of the elevator.

"You wanna lose your nose?" Tea's eyes widened and she quickly backed away. The elevator continued its way up the shaft, until it stopped at a hallway in the bath-house itself. Mai stuck her head out and when she was sure there was no-one around, she led Tea out into the hallway passed a stand where frog-people were preparing dishes of food for the quests. They soon came to a new elevator and waited for a woman with white hair tinged with blue to come out before Mai took Tea into the elevator, making sure that she was standing behind her so no-one would notice her. Mai quickly pulled the level and elevator pulled upward.

"We're halfway there," Mai said. "Just stay close." "Okay," Tea replied as she looked out the back of the elevator into the bath-house. Tea was worried that she wouldn't be able to get Ishizu to give her a job.

"Hey Mai, had there been any other humans that have gotten a job here?" Tea asked.

Mai glanced back at her thoughtfully. "Well, it's not often that a human comes into the Spirit World, but on the occasion that they do, usually they're turned into animals," she explained. Tea gasped in fright. Mai noticed.

"Don't worry, that's only if they take or eat something without permission. (**A/N: **Sound familiar anyone?) I did hear a rumor a few years ago that there was a human that had managed to get a job here." Tea's eyes widened at that.

"Really? Who was it?" she asked.

"No-one's really sure. Ishizu kept it hushed up. Though I did hear that it was a little boy, though he might be a teenager now. But like I said: no-one knows for sure. Anyway, here's our stop. Who knew it was this easy to sneak people through here." The elevator then stopped right in front of a _**really **_big and fat man who sort of resembled a vegetable. Mai gasped quietly and gave a nervous and slightly forced smile.

"The Radish Spirit, welcome!" Mai greeted. The Radish Spirit grunted in response and point one of his stringy fingers upward. Apparently he wanted to use the elevator. "Sorry sir, this elevator doesn't go up any further. I'm afraid you'll have to find another one." Mai then exited the elevator with Tea following close behind.

While they went over a cat-walk, Tea got the chance to actually take look around the bath-house. Up the floors there were rooms that spirits were hanging out and having a great time conversing and joking around. Down on the ground floor, there were cubicles with round bathtubs where spirits were pretty much getting a full spa-treatment. Tea even saw some of the spirits that were on the ferry-boat and the bridge earlier. Tea glanced backward and saw the Radish Spirit following them.

"He's following us," Tea whispered nervously to Mai. "Just don't look at him," Mai replied. "It'll look suspicious." Soon they stopped in front of another elevator and Mai pushed Tea behind her when the Radish Spirit came up next to them. Tea kept glancing nervously between the elevator and the big spirit while Mai kept a cool face.

Then the elevator doors opened to reveal a few really gnarly-looking spirits with horns on their heads being led by a guy of sixteen with a (for a lack-of-better term) messy blond hair-cut and chocolate brown eyes dressed in a grayish-green shirt over a grass-green shirt and white shorts with what looked like a clipboard attached at his side. Mai got in front of Tea so she wouldn't be noticed as the spirits passed them.

The spirits' guide got out of the elevator and Tea took the chance to get a closer look at him… and nearly had another heart attack. The guy with the messy haircut looked just like another friend of hers from Domino! He had an uncanny resemblance to her friend, Joey Wheeler! _'I swear this world is out to drive me crazy,' _Tea thought dryly. She was snapped out of her daze when she heard 'Joey' speak.

"Okay people," he said to the customers. "Your rooms are straight ahead and to the left. Hope you enjoy your stay here!" Dang, he even sounded like Joey with the same Brooklyn accent. He looked back and noticed Mai.

"Hey there Mai!" he called with a goofy smile. Said girl blushed as she pushed Tea in the elevator before the Radish Spirit got in. "Hey there Joseph," replied Mai with a smirk. "Helping out the customers again?"

"Yep, but don't call me 'Joseph'. Way too formal in my opinion. Joey's good enough." Tea felt a sense of déjà vu. Joey and Mai used to argue about that all the time back in Domino. She always noticed though that Mai seemed to have a crush on Joey and him with her. And judging by how this Mai was acting... she seemed to have a crush on this Joey too. Then Joey stopped right in front of Mai, then frowned as he sniffed the air around them. "What's that smell?" he asked. Mai still managed to keep a calm face.

"What smell? What are you blabbering on about now?" she asked in annoyance.

"It's human," he replied. "You smell just like a human Mai!" Mai raised an eyebrow at Joey. "Oh really?" Meanwhile in the elevator, Tea was getting squashed by the Radish Spirit getting inside the elevator with her.

"Where's it coming from Mai?" Joey asked. Then he smirked. "Come on, I know you're hiding something, aren't you? Show it to me," he teased. Mai casually pulled out the newt that Shimon had bribed her with. "Is this what you smell?" she asked in a bored tone. Joey's eyes widened and his mouth started watering, immediately forgetting that he smelled human not newt on Mai.

"Roasted newt!" Joey squealed as he reached for the newt but Mai held it above her with a taunting smirk on her face. "No way monkey-boy, I'm saving every last bite for myself."

"Please, just a little bit!" Joey begged. "Just give me a leg!" Tea suppressed a laugh at the scene. The Joey back home always did think with his stomach rather than his head. Mai turned back toward the elevator while _still _keeping to newt out of Joey's reach.

"If you wanna go up to the top floor, pull the lever on your right," she told Tea. Tea then reached for the lever, but the Radish Spirit was filling out pretty much the whole elevator so it was pretty hard to reach it. Finally, she managed to pull the lever down and the elevator doors closed. Meanwhile, poor Joey was still begging for a bit of the roasted newt.

"Gimme gimme! Oh, how could you be so cruel? Can't you share? Just let me nibble a leg! Suck on the tip of the tail? _**PLEASE!" **_Then Mai shoved the whole newt into her mouth with a smug smile while poor Joey was left to cry waterfalls. (**A/N: **Can anybody tell I enjoyed writing this scene? XD!)

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

The elevator rose up the shaft with Tea and the Radish Spirit inside. After a while the elevator stopped to reveal a hallway leading up to what looked like the guest rooms. Apparently this wasn't the floor the Radish Spirit wanted so he grasped the lever and pulled it and the doors shut again. Tea was a little creeped out by the Radish Spirit and started fiddling with the end of her blue shirt. She glanced up at the spirit just as he looked down at her. Tea turned her gaze away getting even more nervous.

Then the elevator stopped again and the doors opened revealing what seemed to be the top floor. The Radish Spirit stepped out of the elevator allowing Tea to as well and looked around but this wasn't the floor he wanted either so he stepped back in. But just before he pulled the lever, he bowed his head to Tea in a gesture that seemed to say _'Good luck'. _Tea bowed in her head in thanks just before the doors closed.

Tea turned around and looked around. The top floor was elaborately decorated and seemed to have an Egyptian style added to it. Then she saw two large doors and walked up to them. Looking up, Tea saw that there was a large hieroglyph of the fairy she saw earlier with Yami (Spiria).

'This must be where Ishizu lives,' Tea figured. She walked up to the door and started to pull it open when all of a sudden…

"Aren't you going to knock?" The door-knocker talked! Tea jumped back in surprise, her eyes widening.

"You're the most pathetic little girl I've ever seen." Tea didn't know whether to be shocked that the door-knocker was talking to her… or be mad that it insulted her. Then the doors opened up revealing a long hallway where two identical sets of doors opened as well, and lights lit up by themselves.

"Well, come in," spoke a voice from within the hallway. It was a woman's voice. Tea hesitating in coming in. She had a bad feeling about going in there.

"I said _**come in**_," the woman spoke again, this time a little more forcefully. All of a sudden, Tea was yanked by the front of her shirt right into the hallway! She cried out as she flew inward, the doors shutting tight behind her. Then a set of smaller doors opened in front of her, and Tea tumbled into an office, falling right on her face… hard_. 'Ow, that hurt,' _Tea thought. _'This world enjoys causing me pain, I know it.'_

Tea pulled herself off the ground into a sitting position, rubbing her head. Then she heard strange grunting noises from her right. Tea looked and saw three green heads with black beards and mustaches hopping and rolling around the floor. Tea gasped and stood up in shock as the three heads started hopping and dancing around her in a circle.

"Quiet down you three," the voice Tea heard earlier said. "You're making a racket." The heads bounced around Tea a few more times before bouncing toward a desk where their mistress sat. tea looked around the office she was in and saw that it was decorated like something you would see in an ancient Egyptian palace.

Then looking over at the desk, Tea saw a woman dressed like an Egyptian priestess. (**A/N: **Think of Ishizu's outfit she was wearing during the Battle City finals folks.) She had tan skin; long, black hair hidden under a veil; navy-blue eyes; and she looked about twenty years old. Her face had the same shape as the fairy Spiria. This was Ishizu, the owner of the bath-house. Right now, she was busy filling out some paperwork not paying attention to Tea at all.

"Excuse me," Tea said nervously. "I was wondering if you could give me a job." Ishizu looked up from her work with a look of boredom on her face. She raised her hand and made a zippering gesture in the air. Somehow, Tea's mouth then zipped shut! Her eyes widened in shock as she tried to open it up, but it was shut tight.

Ishizu chuckled lightly at Tea's attempts to get her mouth open. It _was _pretty funny to look at. She went back to her paperwork.

"I don't want to hear such a ridiculous request," she said. "You're merely a scared little weakling." Ishizu put a sack of coins into a box. "And this is certainly no place for humans," she said as she closed the box. She looked towards Tea. "It's a bath-house for the spirits, it's where they come to replenish themselves." Ishizu reached for a teapot behind her and poured the hot water into a teacup with and tea-bag inside.

"And you humans always make a mess of things, like your parents who gobbled the food of the spirits like pigs." Tea flinched at the mention of her parents being turned to pigs. Ishizu continued her rant though. "They got precisely what they deserved, and you should be punished as well." Ishizu took a sip of steaming hot tea and exhaled steam out of her nose.

"You could be a piglet," she mused. "Or perhaps you would prefer a lump of coal." Tea stayed silent but her mind was panicking, doing her best not to show it. What she wanted to do was get out of their ASA-NOW, but this was the only way she would be able to help her parents, even at the risk of being turned into an animal (or a lump of coal apparently) herself.

Tea was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Ishizu chuckle again. "I can see you shaking," she said, apparently enjoying scaring Tea. Said girl was trying to stop the shivers that ran throughout her body. "Actually, I'm impressed that you made it this far, but I'm quite sure that you didn't do it on your own. Let's thank whoever helped you. Just who was what it dear? Why don't you tell me?" She moved her fingers in another horizontal movement and Tea's mouth unzipped.

Tea wasn't planning on answering Ishizu. She would be getting Yami, Shimon, and Mai in huge trouble if she did, and she had a feeling that Ishizu wasn't very merciful. So the moment her mouth was unzipped….

"Please, can't you give me a job?" she shouted out. Tea felt pretty bold about yelling at a woman who could probably turn her into a lump of coal with just a flick of her wrist, but it still felt good to let out her frustration at _**something**_. Ishizu got an angered/panicked look on her face. That wasn't the answer she was hoping for.

"Don't start that again!" she said as she slammed her hand on her desk. But Tea didn't let up.

"Please, I just want to work!" she shouted. That statement made Ishizu snap. The fireplace behind Tea seemed to dim and the shadows lining the room seemed to move into tendrils toward Ishizu. Then a howling breeze seemed to come out of nowhere, hissing eerily.

_**"Don't say that!" **_Ishizu seethed before flying straight up into the air (knocking everything off her desk while doing so) and zoomed straight toward a terrified Tea! Ishizu landed right before the horrified girl with a look of pure rage on her face. Tea tried to back away, but she seemed frozen in place out of fear and shock.

"Why in Ra's name do you think that I should give you a job? Anyone with eyes can see that you're a lazy, spoiled, klutzy crybaby; and that you have no manners to speak of!" At each insult she poked Tea hard in the chest and circled around her with a dangerous look in her eyes. "This is a high-class place I'm running here, so there's no job for _**you. **_Now if you'll please get out, I've got all the lazy retards I need." Then Ishizu got a sinister smirk on her face as she thought of something else.

"Or…," Ishizu's voice had lowered to a deadly whisper. Tea couldn't stop shaking. What could Ishizu be planning? "Maybe I'll give you the most difficult job I have, and make you work until you breathe your very last breath." Those words were so cold, Tea felt as if she had been dropped into liquid nitrogen. She wanted to run out screaming but couldn't move an inch out of fear. This woman was dangerous in every definition of the word!

All of a sudden, a huge tremor went through the room and even Ishizu looked up in surprise. Then another, then another. They seemed like footsteps. Things fell all over the office, and the heads jumped two feet in the air each time. Then what sounded like a baby crying came out of a doorway to the right of them. Tea and Ishizu looked up just in time to see a huge, pudgy foot crash right through a door right behind a set of curtains! Tea gasped in shock as the foot kept pushing through the door. Ishizu's eyes widened as they witnessed what was happening.

"Oh dear, you woke the baby!" Ishizu said as she ran towards the splintered door. She stuck her head inside the curtains. "Don't worry sweetie, Mother's here, don't cry," she said in a soothing tone. She glanced out at Tea and gave her a glare. "Why are you still here? I told you to leave!" she scolded. Tea wanted to listen, but she couldn't leave without her parents.

"I want you to give me a job, please!" she yelled.

"Quiet down, you're scaring the baby!" Ishizu whispered back. She then stuck her head back inside to curtains to try and calm her baby down. Then the huge foot came out and kicked Ishizu right in her chest. "Oh sweetheart, don't be angry." She cringed as another crash sounded out but it wasn't as bad as the first few so Tea took that as a good sign. "That's a good boy," Ishizu cooed.

"I'm not leaving until you give me a job!" Tea screeched. Ishizu quickly looked at Tea looking completely disheveled. "Alright, alright! Just please be quiet. I just got him to calm down." She turned back to the room where the baby was in. "Here comes Mommy, I'm coming to get you!" she cooed as she went into the baby's room. Tea was left standing in the office in shock. She actually did it. She didn't know how exactly she did, but at least she got the job.

Out of the debris, a piece of paper flew out towards Tea with a pen following it. Tea grasped it in her hand along with the pen in confusion as the fireplace re-lit itself. "That's your contract," she heard Ishizu say. Tea looked up and saw Ishizu straighten herself out. She looked exhausted after calming down her baby. "Just sign your name away, and I'll put you to work." She started using magic to set her office straight. "If I here even one complaint out of you, you'll be joining your parents in the pig-pen." Tea looked down at the contract.

"So I- do I sign my name right here? she asked.

"Just sign it!" Ishizu blurted out exasperated. "Do you want the job or not?" Tea turned around to look for a place she could hold the contract against, but couldn't find any so she settled for crouching before the fireplace and signing the contract on the floor.

"I can't believe I took that oath," Tea heard Ishizu mutter while she pulled a rope attached to a bell as if ringing for a butler. She went back to cleaning up her workspace. " _**'Give a job to anyone who asks.' **_Ridiculous! Makes me be so nice all the time," she complained while straitening and lighting a lamp. Tea snorted quietly.

_'For someone who promised to give a job to anyone who asks, she sure made it hard for me to get one. And if that was her nice side, I don't even want to know how she's mean.'_

"Are you finished yet?" Without even waiting for Tea to answer, Ishizu levitated the contract into her hands and looked at her name. "So, your name is Tea," said Ishizu. "Yes ma'am."

"What a pretty name." Tea was caught off guard at the compliment. Then Ishizu reached her hand towards over her name while a necklace with an eye on it around her neck glowed. Ishizu made a pulling motion and the kanji symbols lifted right off the contract and into her hand, changing the name on it. "And it belongs to me now," she said with a sinister smile.

"From now on, your name is _Anzu_, got that?" Tea was confused and suddenly felt dizzy. "Answer me Anzu!" Tea 's mind was oddly clouded and could only do as she was told. "Yes ma'am!" she replied. It was then that Tea's mind cleared up. Then another voice was heard, one very familiar baritone voice…

"You called for me?" Tea looked towards the door and saw Yami! She resisted the urge to totally knock him over in a hug instead standing there in shock at seeing the cold look in his crimson-red eyes again. "This girl signed a contract," Ishizu told him. "Set her up with a job." Ishizu then went back to signing paperwork completely ignoring everything around her. Actually, Tea was happy that Ishizu's attention wasn't on her anymore.

"Right," Yami replied. He turned to Tea, the cold look still in his eyes. "What's your name?" Tea was confused for a second before remembering that they were in front of Ishizu, so they had to act as if they didn't know each other.

"Te- oh, it's Anzu," Tea replied. Yami nodded in confirmation and turned to leave. "Okay Anzu, follow me." His tone seemed… annoyed, as if he had something better to do than help her out. Tea was really confused, but followed anyway.

A few minutes later, Yami and Tea were riding to elevator down to the lower parts of the bath-house. Yami wasn't even looking at Tea. That cold look was still in his eyes, and he seemed annoyed about being with her. Tea fiddled with the bottom of her blue t-shirt while glancing over at Yami every few seconds. He didn't give any signs of even knowing her.

"Ummm," Tea said breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Yami I-"

"Don't talk to me," he interrupted still not looking at her. "You will address me as Master Yami." Tea flinched at the harsh tone he spoke in. Tea looked downward, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to come out. One of the only people that had been nice to her in this world was now basically telling her to shut the hell up.

Yami glanced down at Tea and his cold glare turned into a look of guilt at seeing Tea's crestfallen look. He looked back with the guilty look still on his tanned face, but unfortunately, Tea was too upset to even notice.

Soon the elevator stopped, and the two arrived at the servant's quarters. The workers gathered around in curiosity. Somehow, word had already leaked out that a human had been employed.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

"I don't care if Ishizu gets angry with us," said a tall teen aged boy with neatly combed brown hair and cold blue eyes sitting behind a desk (Tea was too upset to even care about resemblance to someone else from Domino). Joey was next to him. "As much as I hate agreeing with Seto, there's no way we're taking humans!" Yami had just finished telling Seto about Tea's - or Anzu's- recent employment. The rest of the workers had gathered around.

"She's already under contract," Yami stated calmly. "What?" Seto exclaimed. "You're joking!" The rest of the workers agreed. Tea bowed her head in respect at them. "I promise to work very hard." But no-one seemed to care about what she said.

"We are not taking her in our department," one of the female workers said while covering her nose. "Yeah, she'll stink up to whole place," another worker agreed. "We don't want her," one of the frog-men stated. Yami rolled his eyes at them in annoyance.

"Three days of eating our food and her smell will go away," he stated "In the meantime, _**deal with it**_, and if she _**doesn't **_work hard… roast her, boil her, do whatever you want with her." The workers murmured hopefully at that order, while Tea was absolutely _**horrified **_at what Yami had said.

"Now get back to work," he ordered. "Where's Mai?" Said girl was leaning on a doorway and frowned when Yami called her name. "What? Don't even think about doping her on me!" Yami just glared at her while Seto smirked and Joey started grinning goofily. Even the other workers started snickering.

"You said you wanted an assistant," Yami reminded her. "That's perfect," Seto remarked. "Give the girl to Mai!" Joey was finding it hard to contain his laughter at what had happened. "Oh great," Mai muttered. Yami turned to Tea.

"Anzu, get going!"

"Yes Master Yami!" Tea squeaked as she ran to Mai, who was glaring at him. "Why are you picking on _**me? **_You own me _**big-time **_Yami! You hear me?" she complained. Apparently not since he walked away without a word. "Have a nice day Mai!" Joey called out to her teasingly. Mai blushed a little, then left the room with Tea following her.

They left the busy part of the bath-house and when the coast was clear, Mai turned around sharply towards Tea with a big smile on her face. "I can't believe you actually pulled it off!" Tea was surprised at the sudden mood swing Mai had taken. "You're such a dope, I was really worried about you. Now keep on your toes, and if you need anything, just ask me, okay Anzu?"

"Okay," Tea answered quietly. Mai then noticed the troubled look on Tea's face. "Huh? What's wrong kiddo?"

"I don't feel so good." was the reply. Mai gave her a sympathetic look. Tea had been through a lot in the past few hours and she was surprised that Tea hadn't gotten completely insane after all that's happened. She really admired Tea for being so tough.

"Well, let's go get you settled in and then you can get some sleep after that," Mai offered. "maybe you'll feel better after that." Tea looked up and nodded at the suggestion. With everything going on, she hadn't noticed how tired she really was. So Mai continued to lead her down the hallway to their room.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

The train rolled past the bath-house as the sun starts to show itself on the horizon. Mai had just led Tea into the room that they'll share with a few other workers. Mai turned on the light.

"So, this is our room," Mai said as she went over to the closet to find a uniform for Tea. Tea followed behind. "A little food and some sleep, and I'm sure you'll be fine." Mai kept rummaging through the closet looking for the right sizes for Tea. She then tossed down a few that were the right size.

"Here's your apron- you have to wash it yourself-," Mai tossed a dark-blue apron. "Your pants." A pair of hot pink shorts were tossed into Tea's arms. Mai was having some trouble finding a shirt for her though.

"No offense Anzu, but you're so puny," Mai remarked as she pulled out a _**huge**_ pink shirt. "Way too big," she muttered as she dug in for another one. Tea was still confused about Yami. Why was he acting so cold towards her? Was he just acting or… was it genuine?

"Hey Mai, do you know Yami?" she asked. "What about him?" Mai asked with an annoyed tone. "There aren't two of him here, aren't there?" Mai turned around with wide eyes.

"Two Yami's?" she echoed while taking out another too-big shirt. Then she snorted. "I can hardly stand one of him. Too big. He's Ishizu's apprentice and henchman, he follows all of her orders. Take my advice and don't trust a word he says." Tea felt her heart shatter as Mai's words sunk in.

_'Yami… is Ishizu's apprentice? And he's supposed to follow her every command? Then… was he just helping me because Ishizu ordered it?' _Tea's blue eyes burned if with tears as she sunk down on her knees. She started crying into her bundled uniform as her mind tried to find the truth among the tangled web of information it held. Her mind was in total and utter chaos.

Yami had been so nice to her, he had helped her. Every time Yami had looked in her eyes, she saw nothing but compassion and warmth and something else she couldn't really identify. Not the cold, indifferent look he gave everyone else. When he smiled at her, she felt like her heart could soar, and every time he held her in his strong arms, Tea felt so right. He was like her knight in shining armor, but to see how he acted to her in the bath-house, and finding out that he's Ishizu's apprentice…

"Let's see," Mai said as she pulled out another shirt, oblivious to what state Tea was in. "Aha! Here we go! I _**knew **_we had a small shirt lurking around here somewhere!" Mai looked down and was shocked to see Tea crying. She immediately bent down and started to rub her back soothingly. "What's wrong Anzu? Are you feeling okay?" she asked. Tea didn't answer. She just kept crying.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

The spirits were closing down their shops and turning off their lights. They were preparing to turn in for the day. Unlike humans, spirits slept through the daytime, and were active at night.

Meanwhile, on the top floor of the bath-house, Yami and the three green heads watched as Ishizu prepared to leave with Spiria. She opened the doors and wrapped a light blue cloak around herself and stepped outside as Yami and the heads bowed in farewell.

Ishizu then used her magic and turned into a larger version of Spiria. She spread her wings and took off into the sunrise with her companion by her side.

The heads hopped away as Yami closed the doors and turned of the lights. As he exited the room, turn was only one thing (or one person)that was on his mind. 'Tea.'

**

* * *

Author's Note: **I hope you guys enjoyed that extra long chapter! First update of the new year! I would've posted this a few minutes after midnight, but I kept hitting writer's block. Is there anyone besides me that hates writer's block? Anyway, I decided to change the Boiler Man's name to Shimon because it seems to fit better than Solomon, in case anyone was wondering.

Now it's time to announce the first person to win the Most Awesome Reviewer Award of 2010!

*applause*

And the first winners of 2010 are… *drum rolls*

_**Lezley-Gardner**_

_**dancers of the night!**_

*applause*

Congratulations to both of you! All of you who reviewed really helped inspire me to keep writing until this chapter was done! Now that it is done, *yawns* I'm heading to bed. My mom let my stay up since it's New Year's and now it's *checks time* 3:00 A.M. Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! Remember to review! It take's five reviews to get another chapter up, and if there's five reviews, I'll have it up ASAP! Maybe I'll post it on my birthday. Until next time folks!

**Review Replies: **From now on instead of replying to each review individually, I'll respond whenever I post another chapter.

_**Lezley-Gardner**_: I'm glad you like the changes I'm making to the story! And I _**TOTALLY**_ agree with you! Chihiro and Haku should've shown a little more of their feeling towards each other in the movie! So that's why I'm making sure that Yami and Tea do just that!

_**Skipper1608**_: I'm glad that you like my story! And don't worry! As long as I get plenty of reviews, I'll keep updating!

_Graysky_: Yes, Yami does make a good Haku, doesn't he? And I had to make sure that Tea didn't get too clingy to Yami. That would've been a little creepy. If you like the idea of Shimon as Kamaji, then I bet you'll like who I've cast as the other characters too! Don't worry! I'll be sure to put any 'Yami=Tea' moments whenever I can. I have too make sure that I stick to the original plot yet still make sure that they can get together. And Happy Holidays to you too!

_**Limplict: **_Well, I'm happy you love my story! You really think my fic is awesome? Thanks!

_**dancers of the night**_: You were really that absorbed into the story? Cool! Oh yeah, being able to jump into books would be _AWESOME! _Actually, it's not the food itself that turns humans into pigs. It the fact that Tea's parents took the food without permission from the spirits. If a human _**steals**_ the food or takes it without consent, than the punishment is too be turned into an animal. If someone that lives in the Spirit World gives the food away or grants permission, than that human wouldn't be turned into an animal. As for your question about Yami being a spirit or not… well… you'll just have to wait and see like the rest of us. ;) And don't worry! I'll update ASAP! Thanks for the review!

_**Update Date: January 1, 2010**_


	5. Sympathy in the Pig Pen

Welcome to the next chapter of _**'Spirited Away: Yu-Gi-Oh! Style'**_! I said I would get this posted on my birthday and I did! January 17th! First of all, thanks to all the great reviewers who commented on the last chapter including:

_**Skipper1608**_

_**Lezley-Gardner**_

_**Sister Of The Pharaoh**_

_Graysky_

_Mitsumistar_

_**dancers of the night**_

_**KelseyAlicia**_

Kinda hoping for more reviews than this, but still pretty good. Anyway, over _**700 hits!**_ Awesome! But enough of my ranting. I hope you all like this chapter! And I found more room for some 'Yami=Tea' fluff! Yay me! Enjoy!

_**Disclaimer:**_ I'm not even going to repeat myself. Just look at the start of the first four chapters to see that I don't own either _**'Yu-Gi-Oh!'**_ or _**'Spirited Away'.**_ Wait a tic… did I just repeat myself? _**RA DANG-IT!**_

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

_

* * *

Chapter Five: Sympathy in the Pig-Pen_

Morning came to the Spirit World, and every last spirit in the bath-house was fast asleep in their rooms. In one of the servants' rooms, about twenty of the female workers were sleeping upon mats on the floor with blankets over them. Every one of them was in peaceful slumber. Except for one…

Tea couldn't stop shivering under her blanket. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep since curfew few hours ago. Why? She was too scared. She was trapped in a strange world with spirits who didn't like humans; employed at a bath-house so she wouldn't be turned into an animal or a lump of coal by a dangerous, Egyptian woman that might've had a stick up her butt the size of either the Nile or a pyramid; and her parents were turned into pigs and could be turned into bacon at anytime.

Then there was the one person that was plaguing her mind the most: Yami. Was he really trying to help her? Or was he following Ishizu's orders to lead her into some sort of trap? And why was he so familiar? He said that he had known her since she was little, but how was that possible? Tea was utterly confused and had no clue on what to do. She curled up even tighter under her blanket, wishing that she was back home with her parents and friends in Domino City.

All of a sudden, the door quietly slid open. Tea froze. She could hear quiet footsteps coming across the room… right towards her! Who was it? Tea clenched her eyes shut and stayed absolutely quiet. Hopefully whoever it was that was coming in would think she was asleep and leave. The footsteps came closer and closer until they stopped. Then Tea felt a hand gently on her shoulder.

"I know you're awake," a familiar baritone voice whispered.

_'Yami?' _Tea realized but stayed still when Yami spoke again.

"Meet me at the bridge," he said. "I'll take you to your parents." With that, Yami removed his hand and left. When Tea heard the door shut, she sat up and reached for her t-shirt and Capri pants. But to her surprise, they weren't there.

_'Where are my clothes?' _Tea wondered. Tea had worn her uniform skirt and a white shirt to bed, but had left her regular clothes beside her sleeping mat. _'Someone must've thrown them out,' _Tea realized. Sighing in frustration, she reached for her worker clothes instead. She dressed as fast as she could without waking any of the other girls. Exiting the room as quiet as she could, Tea made her way through the servants quarters to the elevator that led down to the boiler room.

Tea still didn't know whether she could trust Yami or not, but the thought of seeing her parents- pigs or not- overpowered that feeling. For now, she would just have to trust Yami. That… and her hormones were screaming at her as well. Tea actually wanted to see Yami again. Hopefully it would be his gentle, caring side; not the cold, dismissive one.

Tea exited the elevator and came to the entrance to the boiler room. She opened the door as quietly as she could in case Shimon was still there. She peeked in and saw that Shimon was still at his station… only fast asleep, snoring loudly under a blanket. Tea slipped in as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake up the boiler man. Making her way to the soot-balls work crevice, Tea look around for her shoes and socks… only to find that they weren't there.

"My shoes are gone," Tea whispered. Hearing her voice, the soot-balls scuttled out of their holes. Since Shimon was still asleep, they didn't have anything to do at the moment. They brought out Tea's green shoes with her white socks still in them, out of their holes. Tea bent over the crevice and took her shoes.

"Thanks guys," she said as she put her socks and shoes on. She smiled at them. "I guess this is your way of thanking me for helping you out last night." The soot-balls squeaked in what seemed to be agreement. Then Shimon sat straight up and Tea froze.

"Get your hands off!" he mumbled. Tea raised an eyebrow in confusion before noticing that Shimon's eyes were still closed. He was talking in his sleep! "That's my honey cake!" He then fell back down dead asleep. Tea stifled a giggle at what had just happened and turned back to the soot-balls who seemed to be holding back laughter as well.

"Does he do that often?" she whispered. The soot-balls bounced as quietly as they could but were squeaking excitedly. "I'll take that as a _**'yes'**_," Tea whispered reeling in her giggles. She then stood up and started to head over to the hallway that led outside. The soot-balls cleared the way for her then followed as Tea exited the boiler room into the hallway. Tea reached the door but looked back when she heard the soot-balls squeaking at her from their crevice. She waved at them with a smile on her face as she opened the door and headed outside.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

Tea quickly ascended the stone steps until she came to the bottom of the highly unstable wooden steps. _'Oh boy,' _Tea thought while rolling her eyes and shaking her head. _'I definitely don't want a repeat of what happened last night,'_ she thought while glaring at the steps. Taking a deep breath, Tea quickly climbed the stairs. Halfway up, she stopped and looked out to where the pig-pen was. She could almost hear the pigs squealing if she listened hard enough.

_'I hope my parents are okay,' _Tea thought. To tell the truth, she still couldn't really believe that her parents had been turned into pigs. She had to see it for herself. Tea was snapped out of her daze when the step she was standing on started to creak dangerously. Not wanting a repeat of last night, she quickly climbed up the rest of the stairs before it got the chance to splinter.

Tea reached the top of the stairs in no time. After bending down to catch her breath, she stood up and looked back towards the stairs with a triumphant smile on her face. "Ha! Victory!" she laughed while pointing at the stairs tauntingly. Though in retrospect, it was a little weird since the stairs weren't really_ trying _to make her fall… at least Tea _thought _they weren't.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

Tea soon arrived at the front entrance of the bath-house. After checking if the coast was clear, she crawled through the side-door she and Yami went through last night. Standing up, Tea started to walk towards the bridge. Tea stopped in her tracks when she looked over the bridge. There, looking right at her… was the same spirit that had spotted her!

She knew it was the same spirit from last night. Tall, dark purple, almost transparent except for the jade-colored mask that served as its face. It was just staring at her with a smile on its face. Tea couldn't help but be a little creeped out by this strange spirit. Last night, Yami had cast a spell that made sure that the other spirits wouldn't be able to see her, but this spirit had looked at her straight in the eye when they had crossed the bridge.

Tea took a deep breath, then started crossing the bridge. She had to get to the other side. After all, Yami was waiting for her. The spirit seemed to be following her movements with his eyes -or eye holes- as she swiftly approached the middle of the bridge. A shiver went up Tea's spine as she passed the spirit. She bowed in acknowledgment of its presence without stopping. When she had passed the spirit, Tea ran the rest of the way and didn't stop until she reached the end of the bridge. She just wanted to be as far away from the freaky spirit as possible.

Tea turned around to see if the spirit had followed her, but it had vanished! Tea stared bewildered at the spirit's disappearance. _'Where did it go?' _she pondered. Before she could think more on the subject, Tea heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see Yami waiting for her with a brown bag over his shoulder.

"Follow me," he said as he turned around and walked toward the gate on the side. Tea quickly followed Yami as he led her through the gate and into the garden they had passed through last night. She hadn't been able to see it in the dark of the night, but the tall hedges they were passing through were absolutely beautiful, covered almost completely in flowers.

For a while they walked in silence until Yami stopped and turned around to give Tea and chance to catch up. He held out a tanned hand for her to take when she caught up. When Tea took his hand in hers, a shiver went up her spine as they continued through the garden.

"We don't have much time," Yami told her. "If you're found here you'll be turned into a pig yourself." Tea immediately glanced around in anxiety. There wasn't anybody around so they were safe… for now. They exited the garden and went down a slope toward the pig-pen.

"You must never come here without me," Yami said. " It's too dangerous for you to come here alone. Do you understand?" Tea nodded in confirmation..

"I understand," she replied, he trust in Yami growing a little more.

"Good."

Yami was once again trying to protect her, to keep her safe. There didn't seem to be any trap or anything like that. Tea felt a twinge of guilt. Yami was looking out for her, trying to help her; and her she was, thinking up conspiracy theories that he might've planned. Tea felt ashamed at herself, but there was still a _tiny _bit of apprehension that stayed with her.

They stopped at the doorway of the pig-pen. It was dimly lit and separated into different pens each containing at least ten pigs. Yami pointed to a pen not to far off from the doorway. Inside were two particularly fat pigs that seemed more dead than alive. If it weren't for the sight of their bodies rising up and down from breathing, Tea would've thought they were dead.

Tea let go of Yami's hand and took a couple steps forward with a look of shock and disbelief on her face. Those two pigs seemed so familiar. She turned to Yami, biting her lip as she silently asking him a question. He nodded to her. She gasped and ran over to the gate keeping the pen closed.

"Mom, Dad, are you alright?" Tea asked the pigs anxiously. "It's me Anzu!" The name didn't even _sound _strange to Tea, even though it was the name that _Ishizu _had given her and not her real name. Actually, Tea's mind could only register the name _'Anzu' _as hers. She couldn't even remember her real name. But she was too busy trying to wake up the pigs that were her parents.

"Hey, _**wake up!**_" Still no response. "_**Mom! Dad!**_" They didn't even flinch. Tea was starting to panic. Was something wrong with her parents? It was then that Tea felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked behind her to see Yami giving her a sympathetic look in his crimson eyes. Whatever doubt that was left in Tea was evaporated instantly. No-one could give someone a look like _**that **_and not mean it.

"What's wrong with them?" Tea asked on the verge on tears. "Are they sick?" Yami stroked his thumb on her shoulder in comfort.

"No," he replied. "They just ate too much. They're sleeping it off." Tea looked back at her parents as he continued. "They don't remember being human at all. So look hard, it's up to _**you**_ to remember which ones they are." Tea slowly took in her parents' appearances, every last detail of their animal forms… before she completely broke down.

"Don't you worry, I promise I'll get you out of here," Tea screamed at her parents. "So just don't get any fatter or else they'll _**eat you!**_" Tea then turned around and ran out of the pig-pen into the garden. Yami turned to follow her, but not before taking one last glance at the pigs still sleeping in the pen.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

Yami found Tea sitting at the edge of the garden with her knees up to her chest, and her head down. It sounded as if she was trying- and failing- to hold back tears. Reaching into the bag he had been carrying, Yami pulled something out.

"Here are your clothes," he said. Tea looked up and saw that he was holding her folded clothes toward her. "You have to keep them somewhere safe so you won't lose them again." Tea quickly took her clothes and held them close.

"I thought they'd been thrown away," she told Yami. "You'll need them to get home," he replied as he sat down beside her on the lush, green grass. Tea noticed something poking out of the pocket of her Capri-pants and pulled it out. It was the card that Yugi had given to her along with the bouquet of roses.

"Hey, my good-bye card is still here," Tea said as Yami looked at her. She read over the card and saw the name at the bottom."_Tea,_"she read. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Where had she heard that name before? Her mind struggled to remember, until her eyes widened in realization. "Tea, that's _my_ name isn't it? Not Anzu!" She turned to Yami and he nodded in confirmation.

"That's how Ishizu controls you: by stealing your name and changing it," he told Tea. Her blue eyes widened in shock as he continued. "So hold on to that card. Keep it hidden, and while you're here, you must call yourself _Anzu_ or else everyone will get suspicious."

"I can't believe I forgot my name," Tea muttered sadly. "That evil she-devil of a witch almost took it from me," she said with a bit of anger in her voice.

"If you completely forget it then you'll never be able to find your way home," Yami warned her. He then looked ahead with a sad, faraway look in his crimson eyes. "I've tried everything to remember mine." Tea turned her gaze at him in confusion.

"You can't remember your name?" she asked. Yami shook his head sadly. Tea gasped as she came to a horrible conclusion. "Ishizu took your name too, didn't she?" she asked, feeling guilty that she brought it up. Yami turned back to her with a reassuring smile on his face that made her pretty much want to melt under.

"She did, but you shouldn't have to worry about that," he said. "It's really strange though. I can't remember my name, but for some reason I remember yours. I don't remember any time we've met, only that we were both little kids at the time." Tea frowned in confusion. That was the same way she felt about Yami. It was as if they had met a long time ago when they were little, and were just meeting up again.

Yami stared at Tea for a little while longer before snapping out of his daze with a blush on his face. He then rummaged through his bag again for something else. It was a bundle wrapped in brown paper and when he opened it, there were a few rice-cakes inside. He took one out and brought it over to Tea.

"Here you go," said Yami with a smile on his face. "Eat this. You must be hungry. I know for a fact that Ishizu doesn't give out much food." Tea looked away with a sad look. "No, not really," she replied. Yami frowned a little.

"Don't worry," he reassured. "I put a spell on it so it'll give you back your strength. Trust me, you're going to need it. Just eat it." Yami held out the rice-cake to Tea who hesitated, but took it anyway. She took a small bite. It wasn't so bad, and she better almost instantly. Tea kept eating the rice-cake until she finished. Then she thought of her parents and all her friends back home in Domino City. She missed them so much it hurt. Tears started to run down Tea's cheeks as she broke down crying. Yami wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder as he handed her another rice-cake.

"Have some more," he said in a soothing tone. "You'll be alright." Tea calmed down a little bit and wiped away her tears as she took another rice-cake. She quickly devoured it and started crying again. Yami pulled Tea in closer as she laid her head on his shoulder, giving her as much comfort as he could.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

About twenty minutes later, Yami was leading Tea back to the bath-house. Tea still needed to get some sleep before the bath-house opened for business. If she got caught out of bed… well… let's just say that Ishizu doesn't take kindly to people who sneak around after hours and leave it at that.

"I have to go away for a while," he said as he led Tea through the garden gate near the bridge. "I'll be back to help you soon, just make sure you stay out of trouble. If anything happened to you, I'd never be able to forgive myself" Tea smiled at Yami, and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug.

"Thank you Yami," she said from the bottom of her heart. "You're a good friend." Yami blushed heavily and his heart pounded against his chest at how close he was to Tea. Nevertheless, he smiled and wrapped his arms around Tea, pulling her towards him in a warm embrace. After holding each other for a few minutes, Yami pulled back and placed a gentle kiss on Tea's forehead. Tea's face burned brightly at the small kiss, and her heart felt as if it would come flying out of her chest any second.

"You should hurry back to the bath-house," Yami said, snapping Tea out of her trance. "You'll need more sleep before Mai wakes you up for work." To tell the truth, Tea didn't want to go, but she had too.

"Okay," Tea said reluctantly. She quickly ran across the bridge and when she reached the other side, Tea turned around to look at Yami… but he wasn't there! Tea saw movement in the corner of her eye, and looked up to see a black, serpentine dragon flying into the horizon. Tea's eyes were wide in shock, and her throat seemed to dry up. She had a feeling that she knew just who that dragon was.

"Yami?" she whispered breathlessly. "He's a dragon?" Tea kept her eyes on the dragon until he disappeared into a cloud. Tea stared up at the sky for a few more moments before she continued into the bath-house through the little side-door. But she failed to see the strange spirit appearing and walking toward the bath-house before vanishing completely…

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

An hour later in the boiler room, Shimon stirred in his sleep. Grunting tiredly, he reached over the edge of his work station and gripped his teapot and lifted it up to take a swig of water. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned sharply toward the edge of the soot-balls' crevice. There, curled up on the floor was Tea, fast asleep. Her shoes and socks were in the crevice surrounded by the soot-balls who were keeping a close eye on the sleeping girl; and she was using her bundle of clothes as a pillow.

Shimon gave her a small smile as he took two of his arms and draped a nearby blanket on her. Then he turned to the soot-balls. "Make sure you critters keep an eye on her," he whispered as quietly as he could.. "Poor girl's been through a lot, and she deserves a good rest." The soot-balls squeaked quietly in affirmative as Shimon went back under the covers to get some shut-eye himself, leaving Tea to dream about a certain boy with crimson eyes and spiky, tri-colored hair.

**

* * *

Author's Note:** Okay, it is _**SO HARD **_not writing about Yami and Tea alone together and _**not**_ being lovey-dovey! I'm itching to get to the flufferful parts, but I have to get through the rest of the story first! Ra dang-it! Anyway, now that I'm done rambling, time to give out the next _**Most Awesome Reviewer Award!**_

_*applause*_

And the winners are… _*drum rolls*_

_**Lezley Gardner**_

_**dancers of the night**_

_**KelseyAlicia**_

_*applause*_

Congrats to all of you! You've earned it! Now I'm off to go enjoy what's left of my birthday! Remember folks, five reviews=new chapter! Hope to see you then! Good luck to you all, and for those in the cold areas: stay warm!

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

**Review Replies:**

_**Skipper1608:**_ Thank you! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! And no, you're not nuts! I felt the same way when I first saw the movie and how the spirits were treating Chihiro! I just wanted to go into the movie and smack them upside the head!

_**Lezley-Gardner:**_ You really think I'm a genius for making Shimon the Boiler Man? Thanks! And I thought Mai would be the perfect girl to play Lin. Their personalities are practically the same! Heck, they even sound alike! Don't worry! I've got some pretty good ideas on the romance between Yami and Tea. I think you'll like it! And I'll be sure to update as soon as I can!

_**Sister Of The Pharaoh:**_ Like I said for Lezley, Mai is the _PERFECT_ person to play Lin. You really think the chapter was perfect? Thanks! I hope the fluff in this chapter met to your expectations. I just love writing them! What's your favorite part? If you don't mind me asking.

_Graysky: _I'm happy you enjoyed the little 'Mai=Joey' moments I snuck in. As for their roles, I thought Mai would make a great Lin, and the idea of Joey begging for the newt was just too good to pass up! The nimrod always thinks with his stomach rather than his head! And as for using Tea's Japanese name, it was the only thing that seemed to fit. I thought about using Teana, but it's too close to Tea's real name to use. I actually have a scene planned for the good Marik planned in the next chapter. It's a small appearance, but I think it'll be okay. ;) I'll try to put in Yami's POV whenever I can, and I have a few more 'Mai=Joey' moments planned out.

_Mitsumistar:_ Looks like I'm not the only one who thought that Chihiro's parent were acting like total pigs in the movie. Total gross-out!

_**dancers of the night:**_ It's not a problem at all. I'm sorry to hear that you're sick though. Trust me, I know how it feels. I'm glad you liked the chapter! Don't worry about Tea. Yami cleared up a few things for her in this chapter so she's feeling a lot better! Oh yeah! The comment Tea made when she slammed into the wall totally came out of nowhere! Completely random! I think it worked out okay if I say so myself. I hope you get better soon! It sure ain't fun being sick!

_**KelseyAlicia:**_ In response to your PMs, I absolutely _LOVE __**'Sailor Moon'**_ and the other shows you mentioned except I haven't seen _**'Caleb Gone South'**_ or _**'Redemption'**_. I'll check out your other stories as soon as I get the chance, I'm a tad busy writing this story out and with planning my future stories. I've also checked out your DA page! Nice artwork! And in response to your review, I'm glad you liked it so much! I agree with what you say about Tea. I can't believe that some people actually have the gall to bash her like they do! And thanks for the review on my _**'Harry Potter'**_ story too! I can't wait for the next two movies to come out either! Hope to see you at the next chapter!

_**Update Date: January 17, 2010**_


	6. Important Author's Note NOT A CHAPTER

There is no possible excuse right now for how long the new chapter is taking to write. I'm _SO SO SO _sorry everyone, but my life's been _**REALLY**_ busy as of late, and the terrible monster called writer's block has reared its ugly head again.

First, my parents have been taking me to a few ice-hockey games. Go Fire-Ants!!

Then some idiot flagged _**'Spirited Away'**_ on _**YouTube **_and I had to look all over the place for the English version… for the third time!!! And the guy who posted it made sure to say that he didn't own it!! Luckily I found it on a cool site that has pretty much every anime ever created including _**'Inuyasha'; 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'; 'Sailor Moon';**_ and even _**'Samurai Jack'**_!! Here's the link for anyone who's interested. Just remember to remove the spaces:

_**www . anime freak . tv**_

Then my poor computer came up with a little virus. Okay, not so little, and it's still recovering. And for some reason I'm not getting any alerts from the site. No update alerts; no PM alerts, nothing. So for those of you with your stories on my alert list, sorry if my reviews come in late. Hopefully my computer recovers soon. I miss my updates!!

And my church group recently reacted the Stations of the Cross. In case you didn't know, the Stations of the Cross were Jesus' last moments before he was crucified. Most of us were miming the event, but two of us were reading from scripts to the audience on what was happening. I was the second Reader. The whole thing went off without a hitch!!

So the new chapter won't be on for a while. I have to go to a church retreat this weekend, and then I'll have to finish a report on a Catholic saint for Confirmation. I'm really sorry guys, but unfortunately, life has to come before FanFiction.

I'll try my best to finish the next chapter. In the meantime, there are other stories that are probably way better than mine, so feel free to check them out while you're waiting for this one!

Oh, and you guys might want to check out the new poll I have on my profile. I'm thinking of doing a one-shot in honor of Valentine's Day once my workload has lightened up, though it'll be a little late for it. Still, check it out if you feel like it!!

Again, I'll try as hard as I can to post the next chapter. I'm just letting you guys know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Hope to see ya'll at the next chapter!! Ja ne!!

_**Update date: March 3rd**__**, 2010**_


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